I WOULD HOPE NOT:

New Hampshire authorities said yesterday that they will not press charges against a former Marine who stepped into a deadly shooting and killed a 24-year-old high school dropout who had moments earlier fatally shot a police officer.

The former Marine, Gregory W. Floyd, 49, was driving with his son along Route 116 in Franconia on Friday night when he saw Liko Kenney, 24, shoot Franconia Police Corporal Bruce McKay, 48, four times in the torso. After Kenney drove his Toyota Celica over McKay as the officer lay on the ground, Floyd grabbed the officer’s service weapon and shot and killed Kenney. . . .

The elder Floyd drove his Tahoe into a spot between McKay and Kenney as a shield and told his son, who is in his late teens, to run to the officer’s cruiser and radio for help.

The elder Floyd picked up McKay’s gun from the ground and ordered Kenney to drop his weapon. Kenney refused, and Floyd saw Kenney appear to be reloading, Conte said. Floyd then shot and killed Kenney, Conte said. . . .

New Hampshire’s attorney general, Kelly A. Ayotte, said Floyd will not face charges because he was justified in using deadly force.

I would say that deadly force was not merely justified, but actively called for. Good for him.

UPDATE: This happened in Mark Steyn’s neighborhood, and he comments:

What’s slightly unnerving is the assumptions underpinning the Bostonian reporters’ opening paragraph – that somehow a quick-witted citizen-hero is the guy who has some splainin’ to do. Mr Floyd is exactly the kind of fellow you want around when trouble strikes. He seems not to have been armed himself, but he figured out what was happening very quickly and managed to retrieve the one available weapon from the dead officer. Rather than talking about “not pressing charges”, the state of New Hampshire ought to be thanking him for his bravery and improvisation.

Absolutely.