Times Square Shooting: This is Why Police Shoot to Kill

Police Officers don't shoot to wound.

At approximately 3 p.m. Saturday, police fired a dozen rounds at knife wielding, 51-year-old Darrius Kennedy, shooting him in the center of Times Square. And each shot had behind it good reason, good cause, and good training. The Daily News reports it wasn't seconds after the shots rang out that bystanders started voicing protest at the NYPD's use of force. In fact, Kennedy's parents have since come out against the NYPD, saying the officers in question did not show enough restraint.

Those two officers had never once fired a shot in the field. Not to mention, the NYPD altogether killed only 8 people in all of 2011. Kennedy had gone wild, and was blasted in the face no less than six times with pepper spray. He wiped it off, say police officers, and continued on his path, unperturbed by calls to cease and desist. It's at this point that officers fear for the lives and welfare of innocent bystanders. They also know they're dealing with an EMD, or emotionally disturbed person, likely to act even more unpredictably when confronted.

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