Comments on Bell Shooting

A friend of mine recently asked me about my opinion on the Bell shooting in New York, in which police officers fired upon a group of reportedly unarmed men, killing Mr. Bell on his wedding night. As tragic as this incident is, I cannot say that the officers were guilty of any crime. Police officers are given the authority to carry weapons and use deadly force in situations where they feel their life, or the life of another, is in jeopardy. From the reports I've read, at least one of the officers was "bumped" by Mr. Bell's vehicle. Another report indicates one of the officers reported seeing a gun. The vehicle the officers were using was also hit. While we don't yet know everything that happened that night, I can say as a police officer, that given the mentioned facts, any police officer would have been on edge and fearful for his own life. It would not then, at that point, have taken much for the officers to have believed that their lives were being threatened and to respond with deadly force to any perceived threats by the victims. While it is impossible to judge the officers without knowing all of the facts, I think they at least deserve the benefit of the doubt. See this article http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20061211-0033-prosecutingpolice.html