That three round burst was a ballsy and outstanding shot group by the officer. I am not sure that I could have pulled the trigger with the hostage so close. Thank God he could.

Unmentioned in the lame-stream media was that it appeared from the video that the hostage was kneeling or forced near the ground prior to the fatal shots to the perp.

All that I've seen or heard was that the perp had a gun to the female hostage's head - no other details.

That, of course, made for clearer, safer shot(s) for the officer, with less danger for the hostage.

Kudos to the officer, although he now has his own trauma or demons to work through.

Whew! No lengthy trial or interviews with the perp'smomma claiming her boy wasn't capable of doing such a bad thing!

As for the officer, he should have trained well enough to accept the fact that by doing his job well, even though in results in use of deadly force, that should not result in "tortured feelings".

Time for a return to Stoicism and exercise of individual strength. Our "psycho-babble" society of bemoaning every tragedy has gone too far, in my opinion.

Earl T,

Aint never been in combat, has ya? Here's a clue for ya, never trust anyone who says combat never bothered him. He's either a damn liar, or a damn freak.

You count "hand-to-hand" with an armed man in a restaurant as combat? Tackling him while he's pointing a loaded 9mm and brandishing a razor-sharp combat knife, then holding him down until the gendarmes decide to show up? Zat "combat"? What the firearms guys would call "Condition Black"?

If so, yes, been there, done that!

Had adrenaline hangover for a couple of days, but didn't feel the need to go all "psycho-babble"!

When you were growing up, did they rush counsellors in everytime one of your clasmates was injured or killed? Didn't for us. Ever stop to think that that big BabyBoom bubble of psych majors who needed jobs, is responsible for this sudden need for "sensitivity"? "Every death a crisis" which needs a counsellor, means more jobs! But our truly needy mental cases go begging?

Hmmmmmm.....

A knife and a gun? Blackbeard the pirate was robbing that place? Did Capt. Jack Sparrow come along too? Sounds like the robber was one of those that believes that the handgun was some sort of talisman of power, rather than a tool.

Earl, whether you believe it or not, PTSD is real. And those that do not deal with it become, well, I think the kindest term is, 'empathetically distant', what the rest of us call psychotic or 'burn outs'. I am not casting aspersions on your deed, understand, but do not belittle those who need some help after being out on the sharp end.

Jack Sparrow, Cute! Next time, I'll just yield to your superior sense of humor in handling whackos!

Nor do I disdain the existence of PTSD, I've extensively studied military history so as to understand the impact of combat on its participants.

What I DO question, is the concept that every event causing the least amount of trauma, requires full-blown intervention by "trained" psycho-whatevers.

In the "old days", people were taught to "buck up" and handle things on their own, exercising their internal strengths. I guess I believe that such inner strength exists in most people and does not require the touchy-feely intervention of those in need of full employment, ala Boomers with psych degrees!

I grew up in a military family, and it was a long while before we could afford to live off base. What that meant was that everyone I knew had a father who was either in Vietnam, was about to go, or who had just come back. No platoons of counselors descended upon our schools to tell us how we were supposed to "feel" about any of that. Likewise, while PTSD was and is real, the modern assumption that everyone has it, or that it can be gained secondhand (as some in the media claimed for Maj. Hasan) would have been considered laughable.

Everyone brings something back. It is not disabling in every case, and in fact many can and do deal with it on their own. Claiming PTSD is universal is just as nonsensical as claiming it doesn't exist. The difference is that nobody today claims the latter.

Earl & Steve, I just think we will disagree about things. I have personally seen the 'olden way' of dealing with psychology of taking another life, and found it physically painfully wanting.

Earl T is right. Calling him a "damn liar or a damn freak" was out of line. Way out of line.