Suicide by cop
As I understand it, there is a well-known phenomena among law enforcement known as “suicide by cop”. This is where some cowardly so-and-so who doesn’t have the guts to do the deed themselves puts the police in the position of doing the dirty work for them.
Judging from the information in the story, the police did everything in their power to keep from shooting this kid. The kid, however, was apparently determined to be shot. No one, probably even the kid himself, knows why this happened. Now this cop gets to live with it for the rest of his life. Who knows what the kid’s family is going through. Nice way to end it, Courtland.