The shooter was still an active threat for bombs (Score 1)

From what I remember of the timeline, the suspect at this point had claimed to have planted explosive devices throughout the area, and there had not been enough time to validate the claim. So, he could easily have made a call on his cell phone to detonate remote bombs, rushed out at the surrounding officers with a suicide vest or gym bag of explosives, etc. I would have assumed had I been there that based on his own statements he was still a risk to the community and safeguarding that community was my primary duty. If his finger is on the call button, you can't give him a chance to detonate, so it's either a very well placed sniper shot if you have line of site, or something like what they improvised. If explosives had been found wired to a cell phone detonator, their efforts would have been applauded. I agree it's a very slippery slope, but we need to understand the full context here.