[throwaway_4ever]

Police pull up to sounds of a rifle shot; active shooter. They hear another loud shot. 4 seconds later, someone is peeking around the corner, their hands on the trigger and grip, 30 degrees pointed up. That's 1/4 second away from returning fire, with the firepower to kill every police that showed up, and if they let that happen, any number of civilians thereafter.

[AustinDev]

'with the firepower to kill every police that showed up'

This claim is dubious. Police officers in Austin wear Level 3A plates which can stop 5.56 which is likely the round that AR-15 is chambered in. Landing 5 headshots in quick succession without getting taken down is something you only see in movies.

[8ytecoder]

Aren’t officers also trained to seek cover first?

[AustinDev]

I didn't want to go into that. I just wanted to point out that it is absurd to claim that this random civilian could gun down five police officers in the matter of half a second and not get taken down.

[floor2]

Except in this case, the person they murdered was holding that gun in self-defense from the actual criminal.

Millions of Americans have some sort of weapon for self-defense. That might be a gun in their home. That might be pepper-spray in their purse. That might be picking up a knife or golf club when they hear a window break in the night.

The police shouldn't shoot first and ask questions later. They should always, always, always establish what is going on and who is a threat before killing an innocent person who was trying to defend themselves against an attacker.