Except “potentially lethal” is not an official term in the DAAT system and not found anywhere in the Force Continuum hierarchy.
And from what I saw any level of non-lethal force was justified, and one might be able to justify lethal force. But the defense did not do that strongly enough which is one of the criticisms against her attorney some have mad.
One of the physiological things I observed is that (and I don’t know how it is done in Minnesota) officers train 2, 3, even 4 times a year with handguns, but only once every 2-3 years with Tasers. The muscle memory from handgun training, especially under stress, may be why she drew her pistol yet gave the universal Taser warning. This is only an observation and theory on my part.