This is a wild story about

• how running with scissors is a bad idea
• alligator bites can’t even stop a dude on meth
• cops continue to have no clue what de-escalation tactics are

Honestly I think in this case the cops responded as they should. They tried teasing him and that didn’t do anything and then he tried to take a rifle from them. At that point they didn’t have a lot of options.

The fact that you (an average US citizen, presumably) think tasing is de-escalation is literally part of the problem.

I was trained by cops multiple times during my 10 years of security work. Sadly, I didn’t receive much for de-escalation training. I had to learn it myself. Oh sure sometimes escalation (like sounding intimidating while moving your hand to your hip) worked as a method of de-escalation, most of the time it was to reinforce the mantra to “ensure you go home at night”.

Tasers aren’t even non-lethal, they are now (properly, with public outcry) considered “less lethal”.

Meanwhile, we have no one there to assess him to determine what his medical and/or psychological needs are, because “he’s dangerous”.

The cops brought the rifle.

I get what you’re saying. I would agree in almost every case. Not on this one. You try to reason with a violent meth head that is this out of his marbles and see how that turns out for you.