no question this was no situation for deadly force - not even close!

I totally agree, Ronald. This young man could have been controlled just by walking up to him and taking him down. But, he was murdered instead! This young man should be alive and in a hospital somewhere. Someone probably slipped LSD in something he ate or drank. Find that person and charge them and the officer who killed him with murder!

Deja, Do you really think you can walk up to someone in this condition and talk him down? I mean really?? I ain't saying what the officer did was right, but really in this condition he is in a world all his own. Give me a break !

Use a tazer or pepper spray. Very sad situation. The family will be awarded a large sum of money but it will not bring their son back. The son is also very responsible for taking LSD but did not deserve to die from it.

This is a sad situation. Drugs are never an answer. However, a police officer should not be allowed to get away with cold blooded murder and this is what it is. No matter the situation, the officer could see a naked man who was unarmed.Seriously, he could have just walked back into the station and gotten another officer to go outside to confront this student and get him the help he needed. Instead, the young man was shot and killed. Don't make assumptions that this was a kid who was a bad kid and who took LSD on a regular basis. Someone could have slipped it to him somehow without his knowledge. We do not have all of the facts but we do know that a naked and unarmed young man was murdered in cold blood.

OK, update. I just read on TnValley website that the officer who shot the young man DID have his baton and pepper spray on his person at the time of the shooting. If he was within 4 feet of the "suspect" he could have covered him in pepper spray and put the man down without killing him. I have been pepper sprayed on accident by my son. I carried it on my key chain for protection. My son was very young (about 12) and got my keys, pointed it straight towards me and said Mom what is this? My bad for leaving it within his reach and what a miserable experience for me. Holy Cow that crap burns so bad and I had my glasses on. The majority of it went down my throat as I tried to scream for him to put it down. I literally could not breathe and someone had to drag me out of the house into fresh air. I could imagine what it would do to a naked man. It would for sure cripple him when it reached his lower regions of his body. He would suffer but he would still be alive. The officer was defintely wrong for shooting and killing this young man. Dear Officer, they give you pepper spray for a reason!

Michelle, Talk about assumptions! First of all Pepper spray may have worked, or may not have worked..we won't know for it wasn't used. Using a baton would have put the officer closer to the individual. This would have placed the officer in jeopardy..distance equals safety. A tazer also may or may not have worked, we won't ever know for they are not issued this equipment in this department. There was no other officer in the police station according o press releases, they were on patrol, there was a dispatcher. The officer engaged the offender and retreated as he should have, but back-up was on the way. He should have waited. Remember also that the offender was naked and sweating profusly (again according to press reports) fighting him would have been a task. It woud have taken several officers. I am not implying deadly force should have been used, and I have not seen the video. But, when a person is this far out of control, chances are he will feel little pain from impact weapons (less than lethal) , again none were used. The officer was right to retreat, this eliminated a baton use, everything else I question.

Let's no forget the normal maturity & survival skills most parents are supposed to teach the young. Sad for all involved, but a classic case of "natural selection".

Another Barney Fife with a gun should have never been issued a gun or the right to carry it . At the absolute most he could have tased the young man who was most likely was seeking help

Tbone.....he can't "tased" the man if he ain't issued a taser. That department does not use them, it has been reported in the press. And, according to the press reports, he was acting aggressive and had just assaulted two people.

To me it seems this young man went to the police for help. The officer only had his weapon, his gun belt was inside no Pepper spray or tazer. Sorry, I have friends that work at the school. No matter back-up was on the way the officer should have or could have just moved back inside and waited for help, or waited for back-up in the first place which is prodical in a situation of this nature.