tennyson wrote:

My big question is what the heck is a 73 year old doing on such an assignment ?

 
 

 
That is an excellent question.

Here's "My Take" (I stole that from Gretchen Carlsson) on this incident:
1) Eric Harris was a Felon fleeing the scene of a crime.
2) Why were there so many officers and pseudo officers involved involved in, basically, a sting operation on an individual for an illegal gun sale?
3) Robert Bates, the 73 year old voluntary reserve officer, supposedly underwent 400 or so hours of firearms training (maybe some of that most excellent NRA training) yet he could not discern the difference between his handgun and his taser? I believe the training regime elements of the training program needs to be reviewed and improved upon by the police department.
4) Finally, Harris was engaging in illegal activity and, when caught in the transaction, chose to run rather than surrender and suffer the legal consequences. He was wrong in doing so. But the number of officersinvolved in the chase, the obvious lack of training of at least one of the officers, and the demeanor of the officers after the perpetrator was forced to the ground and then shot is disturbing  . . . to say the least.

tennyson wrote:

Thought I just read that Bates is going to be charged with 2nd degree murder. Seems from what I read thus far that the charge should more have been voluntary manslaughter. The reports so far have dealt more with the language of the other officers vs the actual shooting and the reason for the operation and manpower. I am sure more will come out later. I understand people of all ages wanting to help their community be a safer place but I REALLY question the wisdom of having people of this age (near mine too) being on such an operation. 
 

The Fox site is running a story that the  man is being charged with manslaughter.

I thought that this man might have been a retired police officer. But the story says he owns an insurance company. Why on earth was he out there at the age of 73?

And why don't the other officers seem to appreciate that the situation has changed from a pursuit/arrest to an accidental shooting, gonna be all over the internet,  category five sh*t storm, and start rendering aid instead of cursing at the victim.

Conspiracy Theory wrote:

How does someone confuse a gun with a taser?

This happened in California too.  A cop shot a man who was face down on the ground and stated he confused his gun with his taser.

A taser is a big, bulky device.  A gun is not.

WTH?

I think a lot of the tasers being used by police departments are actually pretty small and in general do resemble a gun. Here is a YouTube of one being used in training.