freshcutgrass, despite the fact that you only cited the first part of my argument, and left out the extenuating circumstances from which I concluded that "Assaultive" is the more appropriate scenario for this
Your so-called extenuating circumstances aren't. That's why I didn't bother addressing them. He's still armed, dangerous and poses a deadly threat. The fact that he has no chance of escape (ok...possibly by hijacking the streetcar) yet still refuses to give up makes it even more likely he will use his weapon given the chance. The appears to have a death wish and that makes him even more dangerous.
He made a sudden move for the exit and that's when the officer opened fire. It's a split second decision he had to make and he made it. I'm not saying it was the "right" decision, and I'm also not saying it was the wrong decision. It was the right decision for him at that moment. And I think it's a tad premature to say the officer was just using that situation to carry out his sadistic fantasies, as some people here are suggesting.
The goal of lethal force (or any use of police force, for that matter) is to contain the situation, subdue the assailant, protect the police officer involved and protect the public. The goal of lethal force is not to murder.
Why are you using the term "murder"?
I don't know where you are getting your definitions, but lethal force is nothing more than exactly what it implies....it has nothing to do with containing, or subduing. It means you have committed to killing them. This does not necessarily mean they have to be dead...they just need to be incapacitated enough in the process of using lethal force to not be any more of a threat than if they were dead.
Nobody knows for sure at this point, but from my observation of the vids, he did go down on the first 3 shots, but that officer did not move in yet fired more shots, leaving me to believe that Sammy was injured but still capable of causing harm in the eyes of the shooter. Even after all 9 shots are fired, the body language of all the officers still keeping their distance means the situation was still not clear. It was only after the one officer carefully approached and tasered him did the rest seem to look safe and they all rushed in.
Notice they were still ordering him to drop the knofe after he was shot, as well as when he was tasered. The suggestion that all of these cops concocted some silent conspiracy on the spot to pretend Sammy was still alive and dangerous when he was dead is a theory you can't possibly ask me to take seriously.
Hypothetical scenario, had the cop walked up to Sammy's body and put a 10th bullet in his head, execution style, just for kicks, would that fall into your definition of correct use of lethal force?
No, it wouldn't. And do I really need to point out why? That isn't what happened. Not even close. There's a reason they didn't "just walk up to him". If you can just walk up to him, there's no need to employ lethal force.