There was an officer-involved shooting carried on my local news and it brought home to me just how quickly things can happen in these situations.

A woman is holding a child outside on her lawn. She is arguing with a man. The police show up. The man starts yelling that he will kill her and starts waving a knife around. The woman dodges while holding her child, He slashes, she ducks, tries to get away, he trips, falls, trips her, she falls, he grabs her leg, slashes, wounds her, tries to pull her towards him on the ground, loses his grip, then grabs the child to pull towards him and at this point, the police, who have been commanding him to drop the knife, open fire. Two shots. The man dies immediately.

Total elapsed time from when the police first get out of their vehicle to shooting the man - twelve seconds.

It was an absolutely chaotic scene, police shouting commands, the woman screaming for help, the man yelling that he will kill her, people struggling, falling, blood spurting, a baby menaced. I can't imagine the adrenaline dump that must have been happening.

Intellectually, I know this is what happens at a scene but seeing it from start to finish, with what can happen in just twelve seconds, and the decisions that have to be made with all that adrenaline flooding one's body, it was shocking.

Police actions need review, that's part of the job. But that job is almost unimaginable.