Use of deadly force protects onlookers

May 7, 2008

In the article "Outcry over police shooting" (May 2), Bobby Harris asks if wielding a knife at a police officer warrants shooting a 62-year-old woman. The answer is yes.

The right to use deadly force is granted to police officers when a person is believed to be an immediate danger to the people around him or her. The suspect in this case threatened and lunged at the officers with a knife.

Police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments in circumstances that are tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving.

One could make the argument that if the officers had been carrying Tasers, they could have used those first. However, neither officer had a Taser at the time of the shooting.

The only overreaction in this case was by the husband of the woman who was shot.

Matt Michels

Owings Mills

To Our Readers: The Sun welcomes letters from readers. All letters become the property of The Sun, which reserves the right to edit them. Letters should include your name and address, along with day and evening telephone numbers. E-mail us: letters@baltsun.com; write us: Letters to the Editor, The Sun, P.O. Box 1377, Baltimore 21278-0001; fax us: 410-332-6977