Why shoot to kill? or why shoot until good and dead?

[TorchTheWitch]

12. the reason that shoot to kill is required

is that if you shoot for any other reason there is no reason to shoot at all. In order to use a gun at all the threat must be so severe that killing is a necessity.

As for why police in shootings fire so many shots, as I understand it waiting between shots to see what happens next is too dangerous, and they're trained to continue firing until the perp is no longer moving (ie: no longer a possible threat). Being down doesn't always mean being out. Being down can mean being dead, being wounded and still a threat or not being wounded or dead and having just hit the dirt when fired at yet still a threat. If they're shooting to kill in the first place I'm not seeing what difference it makes how many bullets are used. As long as they stop when the perp is down AND out rather than empying the clip then they acted correctly from the point of the decision that shooting was necessary.