Why was the assailant shot so many times? Doesn’t that mean the officer overreacted?

An attacker can be shot many times and continue to attack before his wounds cause him to stop. An aggressor can sustain multiple fatal wounds to the head, torso, and other body parts, but continue to be mobile and lethal for a time. Drugs or an altered mental state can make an aggressor less responsive to the immediate effects of being shot, and officers are trained to shoot until the threat is stopped.


If they see no reaction, and the threat persists, officers will continue to shoot. With as many as four rounds fired per second, an aggressor may be struck multiple times before he stops attacking. If more than one officer uses lethal force, even more rounds may be fired before the threat is stopped.

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1. Time is on the side of the police, right? They are trained for these types of encounters, aren’t they?
2. Why didn’t the police just talk the distressed aggressor into submission?
3. The subject only had a knife. Why didn’t the officer just disarm the subject, rather than shooting him?
4. Why not just shoot the gun or knife out of the aggressor’s hand? Why not just shoot to wound the subject?
5. Why didn’t the officer use non-lethal tools, such as bean bag or sponge rounds from a shotgun?
6. The suspect was shot in the back. He must have been retreating, right?
7. Why was the assailant shot so many times? Doesn’t that mean the officer overreacted?
8. Why won’t video from a police camera or a bystander’s camera tell the whole story?