The easiest job in the world...
is that of the "Monday morning quarterback". When the smoke has cleared, our field of vision becomes much broader and in sharper focus. Should the officer have been psychologically evaluted after each of the shootings? No question about that. (After the second shooting, he probably should have been evaluated by a different mental health professional - or a board of shrinks - in case the first one was served a BS burger, and swallowed it all).
LEO is one of the most stressful jobs in the world, and John Q. Public expects LEO's to be perfect in all that they think, say and do! Unfortunately, those that are selected to "Protect and Serve" are chosen from the same pool of fallibility in which we mere mortals swim. Some of the larger metropolitan PD's involve a psych eval as a part of their intake process, prior to employment, which helps minimize the acquisition of "sociopathic misfits". There are more variables involved than anybody here would care to read, so I will forego those.
Officer Peters story sounds suspiciously weak at best. At worst, the "Blue Wall" is up, and one other officer is blindly supporting Peters claim. The article says that Loxas was unarmed! The officers may have arrived on-scene with the mindset that "the dispatcher said he is armed", and at least one of the responding LEO's - Peters - "saw" a weapon... perhaps only in his mind. OTOH, had he hesitated long enough to examine all the possible alternative ways to resolve the incident, the outcome could have been worse.
Based upon the article alone (and totally dependent upon its accuracy) it sounds as if Peters is at least guilty of poor judgment and/or involuntary manslaughter. He should be evaluated by an independent psychiatrist prior to being restored to duty (if at all restored). At worst, his history would indicate that he may be a 'thrill killer', and should be prosecuted for homicide in this incident. Just my opinion :uhoh:. Pax...