# should the cop really legally shot the fugitive? \[David Sweat\]

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-cop-really-legally-shot-the-fugitive-david-sweat/723780>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 29, 2015, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-cop-really-legally-shot-the-fugitive-david-sweat/723780 "2015-06-29T12:21:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-cop-really-legally-shot-the-fugitive-david-sweat/723780/57 "2015-07-26T20:49:58Z")

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> [@Loach](#):
>
> Use of force rule are similar but not exactly the same from state to state. I don’t know the exact wording in NY (and more importantly, how they have been interpreted) but here is what the NJ Attorney General’s guidelines are on the subject:
> 
> > [@](#):
> >
> > escape of a fleeing suspect
> > 
> > a. whom the officer has probable cause to believe has  
> > committed an offense in which the suspect caused or attempted to cause death or serious bodily harm; and
> > 
> > b. who will pose an imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm should the escape succeed; and
> > 
> > c. when the use of deadly force presents no substantial risk of injury to innocent persons.
> 
> A desperate convicted murderer would fall within the rules. An escaped burglar would not.
> 
> That is speaking in general terms. I don’t know exactly how it went down in this case.

Out of curiousity, I asked a friend of mine who is a Crown prosecutor if the Canadian use of force rules were similar. His off-the-cuff answer was that he didn’t think the use of deadly force in these circumstances would be justified, because the guy was fleeing from the cop, rather than posing a direct threat to him, and there was no evidence that he was armed. I think the fact that the shooting officer id’d him solely from the description would have also counted against the use of deadly force, because of the possibility of a mis-identification in such short circumstances.

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