re: Florida deputy fatally shot US airman that answered the door with a gun

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the fedex guy does this at my house all the time. I dont' go get a gun. They hear the dog barking and back away from the door and i can't see them.

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Does the fedex guy beat on your door like a cop? I said this earlier in the thread, but it’s disconcerting and it’s not like a normal person knocking on the door.

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at 4:30pm? you a drug dealer? or did you recently beat the shite out of somoene or murder someone and you're expecting retaliation? why would that be so sketchy at 430PM that you need to answer the door with a gun?

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I didn’t say I would answer the door with a gun at 4:30 PM. I said I would think it was sketchy. I probably wouldn’t open the door at all until I knew who it was, if I’m being honest. Not out of fear so much as annoyance.

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ANd i'm not saying what the cop did was right. I understand why he did what he did, but yes he absolutely could have handled it better and not shot him immediately.

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He could have not shot the guy immediately. He also could have announced himself as police the first time he beat on the door. He could have stayed in view after beating on the door instead of hiding off to the side. He could have gone back down to check with the lady who gave him directions when he realized they were conflicting (she told him to go one way, but the apt number she gave him was the other way).

I don’t think opening the door with a gun in his hand was smart by the resident. But I also don’t think that makes it the resident’s fault. The fact that he could have taken steps to avoid being shot doesn’t suddenly make it lawful.

It’s like defensive driving. If someone is tailgating me, I should try to give myself extra stopping distance so I don’t have to slam my brakes. But if I don’t do that and I get rear-ended, it doesn’t absolve the other driver.