The citizen was not a regular untrained person. He was a legal concealed carry person with a permit. Getting a concealed carry permit requires competency testing. He may have had more skills than a police officer. And when the range is as close as it was in this incident--1-3 inches,-- it doesn't require much skill. I was a competitive shooter for years & I competed against many police officers. The only ones who matched my scores were officers who competed regularly. Just a FYI: These incidents have happened before - where an officer finds himself in danger & a citizen came to his rescue. In one such incident, a citizen shot a suspect to death as he continued beating a cop who was already unconscious. The citizen's $700.00 gun was confiscated for evidence & the department took up a collection & bought him a new gun. That's how it SHOULD be handled.
Indeed, it was an eye opener for me observing some military and LEO shooters at the range. I’m sure there are some amazingly competent firearm folks in those fields but being in any of those careers is no guarantee of knowledge, skills and attitude when it comes to handling firearms.
From a 2017 article... "A passerby who shot and killed a man who was attacking a Florida sheriff’s deputy will not face criminal charges. The State Attorney's Office formally cleared Ashad Russell, reports the Daily Mail. Russell, 35, came to the rescue of Lee County Sheriff’s Deputy First Class Dean Bardes when he saw Edward Strother attacking the deputy on Interstate 75. Bardes had pulled over Strother for speeding. Strother, 53, then allegedly attacked Bardes, pinning him to the road and punching him repeatedly. Russell, who has a concealed weapons license, was armed when he emerged from his vehicle to help. Bardes, apparently noticing Russell had a gun, instructed him to shoot Strother. After repeatedly warning Strother to get off Barnes, Russell shot him three times in the neck, killing him."
Yes, if a cop's gun is just part of their uniform, they can't be expected to have anything beyond basic skills. That is apparent when so many shots are fired by so many officers in incidents - sometimes as many as 60 or more, as in this case: https://www.npr.org/2022/07/04/1109648170/akron-police-use-of-force
Glad I never had any restrictions or limited ammo, it would have been hard to fill the ranks 58 years ago. I am happy to say we did not shoot to wound someone. We also did not count how many rounds hit an enemy, we just made sure he didn't get up or move, many times making a wide 360 and come back in to make damned sure he was dead !