Thanks, the ricochet option hadn't occurred to me. It's certainly a possibility.
I doubt he managed to load his gun with police standard ammunition. It's a converted starter pistol. I highly doubt those rounds would even fit in its chamber (although I'm not a firearms expert by any means).
And maybe I have an over-romanticised idea of what competent policing should be like, gleaned by watching too many films, or reading too many books, but honestly, if there's more than one of you, you are heavily armed, wearing protective gear, and you're facing down a drug dealer with a gun, I honestly believe you should be able to apprehend that man without shooting him dead. If firearms officers are allowed to unload on anyone when they "believe" there is a thread to life, that basically equates on them unloading on anyone. Such as <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/may/13/ukguns.hughmuir">Men carrying table legs</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Jean_Charles_de_Menezes">Brazillian electricians</a>.
One day that could be me, or someone important to me.
In addition to that self serving reasoning, I also think the interests of justice and the public are better served by trying that man, in court, and sending him to prison.