Tett, 41, fired one shot from a .38-caliber handgun Feb. 18 outside the Boston Square Shell station after Rodriguez, 48, lifted the lid to attack. By several accounts, Rodriguez was upset because Tett had given his girlfriend a ride when her car broke down in November, and he thought something more was going on.
"(Rodriguez) is the one who started this," Forsyth said. "He's the one who started to assault him. Unfortunately, he assaulted someone who had a gun."
Critics of Forsyth's decision say Tett had his gun out too quickly.
I guess he should have waited till Rodriguez beat him down to the pavement .... b4 defending himself ..... dude could have been swinging an axe, knife, brick, tire iron ......
...the shooting is, obviously, justified if you read the links for the very reasons you mention; the prosecutor said the man had no way of knowing what the weapon was at the time and was justified in self defense. He only fired once.
too quick to shoot .....
...we're conditioned that only the police should have guns and anyone else who tries to defend themselves is simply some NRA mad dog, then, yeah, he was too quick to shoot.
I mean, the guy reacted to an attack and he didn't just freeze. Maybe that is shocking in and of itself?