DAVID KLINGER: What I Learned After I Killed A Criminal: Don’t believe the lie that America’s police officers are heartless beasts.

It’s been nearly three-and-a-half decades since I killed Edward Randolph, but when I fix my mind on those desperate seconds from the time he thrust the butcher’s knife he clasped with both his hands into my partner Dennis Azevedo’s chest and the moment I shot him flush in his own, it can seem like yesterday. . . .

The crucial moments from the time Randolph first attacked Dennis and when I arrived at my partner’s side lasted no more than 12 seconds, perhaps as few as seven. A mere three to four seconds passed from the time I first grabbed the suspect’s wrists to the time I pulled the trigger.

Those last few seconds have proven to be among the most significant in my life. And I have revisited them, along with the moments that preceded them, many times in the past several months as our nation has plunged into an emotionally charged debate over police and deadly force. News reports are filled with people denouncing trigger-happy cops.

Hmm. I’m with Col. Jeff Cooper on stuff like this.