SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A former San Diego Police SWAT commander is weighing in on a deadly shooting in Minneapolis that has divided the nation, offering his law enforcement perspective on whether the use of lethal force was justified.
Ray Shay, who spent 24 years with the San Diego Police as a SWAT commanding officer and lethal force instructor at the San Diego Regional Police Academy, has analyzed the shooting from videos posted online showing multiple angles.
"It's not, in my opinion, a lethal force situation because he had options," Shay said.
Shay emphasized that fear alone doesn't justify deadly force when other alternatives exist.
"Just the mere fear is not enough to use lethal force, if you have other options, step to the side, specifically," Shay said.
Having traveled around the country for years to observe civil disturbances, including at the ICE facility in Portland, Shay says he's noticed gaps in federal officer training. He believes federal officers and agents lack proper instruction in public interaction and crowd-control techniques.
"For example, what you saw in Minneapolis when he said 'get the f out of the car', that right there shows that the supervisor or the training has to be better, they have to know how to interact with people," Shay said.
While critical of officer training, Shay also believes the public should maintain appropriate boundaries when documenting federal immigration enforcement activities.
"Follow the directions of the federal officers, and you can record from a distance, but do not come up close to a federal officer, a police officer, that is a danger signal to them, and they have to protect themselves," Shay said.
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