I thought I heard them say it was a medical alert, but maybe that was the narrator. I will have to watch it again later. The narrator at the least said it was a medical alert app on a cell phone.
That's great to know in retrospect, but unless they were tampered with prior to release, according to the 911 call and radio broadcast the cop had a very different story.
Either way, I still think the officer shouldn't be making too many assumptions without seeing some indication of it at the location.
I'd note that seeing someone with a drawn handgun on a hold-up alarm call might be considered an indication. It might be wrong, but it could still be an indication and is the kind of analysis they might have literally fractions of a second to make. If a good guy dusts an active shooter and the cops responding see him with a gun they're going to make reasonable - even if tragically wrong - assumptions based on the limited information they have in the limited time they have.
IMO, it seems they are accepting the real risk of shooting innocent people for the benefit of maybe stopping a crime in progress. That sucks.
It does suck when it happens.
But let's be honest, it's the same risk our society takes by allowing you and I to carry guns to defend ourselves. There is a non-zero chance that we might make a mistake and shoot an innocent person for the benefit of maybe stopping a crime in progress. It sucks if we get it wrong, but I believe it is absolutely worthwhile.
I will fall back on what I have said in the past. LEO's should not be rolling in hot based on a 3rd party report. I know they want to be the cavalry coming to the rescue, but if that puts citizens at risk of getting shot, they shouldn't be doing it.
Everything has risks. In this case based on what I've seen I don't think the cop was "rolling in hot", but that based on the information he had available he was more likely to expect someone coming to the door armed to be a threat than had he been told it was a medical emergency.
And the risks of getting unjustly shot by a cop are exceedingly low. Never small enough, to be sure, but way, way, way, lower than the risks of (for instance) driving your car to the grocery store.
LEO's should EXPECT a homeowner to come to the door armed after dark. They should not act like that is unusual.
Agreed.
And I guess the reverse should be considered. If the homeowner was walking to the door, saw a gun and fired at the blinding flashlight, would that be okay? He may have heard his doorbell then saw someone moving around the side of his house which is suspicious.
Okay? No. Just like it wasn't "Okay" that the cop shot the homeowner in this case.
Justified? Maybe. See above.
Understandable? Probably. See above.
Situations where limited or incorrect knowledge leads good people to reasonably make the wrong choices happens on both sides of the badge.