He was promoted through the ranks, they sent him to law school, and he ended up as head of NYPD legal before taking up private practice. One of the nicest, most level headed people I know even though he voted for Orange as the lesser of the evils in 2016.
He told me that one time he had cornered a perp on a B&E rap. Had his gun drawn. Guy had nowhere to go so he started walking briskly toward my friend with something small and metallic in his hand. No hands up even though ordered. Also wouldn’t drop what he was holding despite also being told repeatedly to do so. My friend said he came within a millisecond of shooting him as he had come into the zone where even if it was a knife, the guy could have used it. Guy finally drops what he’s holding which turns out to be keys. My friend swears to this day that what he saw was a small gun. He also admits that if he shot the perp, it would have been a bad shoot, he would have been fired, and in this day and age, charged.
It’s all in the zone and tunnel vision at that point. You don’t think, but react, and hopefully your training properly determines the reaction.