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Minneapolis has had this situation a few times now, and in several cases, the person they shot had a history of mental illness...which lead to some pretty severe criticism of the department. Not too fair to cap someone when they're seeing things and pick up a knife out of fear... Now, there's a special response team, trained to talk people down, and to use non-violent means. There have still been some incidents, but in each case, the special response unit wasn't called in time...
Now, i can't say how relevant this experience is to the alberta case-there wasn't a strong indication why this man used the knife...but i'm inclined to beleive that the police had a responsibility to use more patience in the situation, containing the man until backup could arrive. A lone officer is much more likely to panic and make stupid choices than if there are several of them working together with senior leadership present.
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