The legal issue will be whether the officer can justify shooting to "defend his life." And if so, how many shots might or might not have been justified. The forensic evidence (so far) lends some support to his version of events, and at least disproves the claim that the victim was "shot in the back."

Cops are not supposed to shoot except to defend life, and very few ever fire their gun outside of the firing range. Justifiable or not, a split-second decision was made.

It's unpleasant to realize that such a decision can have devastating consequences. But welcome to the real world.

No surprise that the case is more complicated than people who watch too much TV and movies want it to be.

On the positive side, Captain Ron Johnson of the Missouri State Police is starting to look like the Martin Luther King, Jr., of police work.