HP48GX

not much to say

the woman began to turn towards the people she believed were there to help her, and at least one officer opened fire.

You see in front of you a person holding a shotgun and a bloody corpse in front of them. You tell them to drop the shotgun. They do not drop the shotgun, but they turn towards you.

un1ty

Welp, open and shut case here Johnson. It's easy as pie - the woman was obviously just about murdered by her husband and in a state of heightened senses and may not have been thinking straight, but when the 'good guys' showed up and she didn't immediately genuflect and offer oral sex to the heroes, it meant she must be put down. Nevermind the non-lethal options at our disposal.

BeerMan

It's as natural as taking a piss to turn towards the person shouting at you. However a person will have to look at the state rules of engagement. Having served for a while, every country we went to we had different rules of engagement so yeah a person will have to look at that, another thing why no tazers ? The officers clearly should of been informed pre hand about the history of the house, whilst driving on route they would of had a better understanding of what they where entering into and knowing that she was not a threat.

edit - county to state

HP48GX

should of been informed pre hand about the history of the house, whilst driving on route they would of had a better understanding of what they where entering into and knowing that she was not a threat.

yeah, i thought of that, too... even so you can not know how a person in that state would react. She was so horribly shocked that there is no guarantee whatsoever she wouldn't reflexively shoot again.

not justifying the cops, merely explaining that the situation is what we greeks would call a tragedy: no-one really at fault, everyone really hurt.