This is a really sad event that happened and the only thing that I can think of to answer your question is, think of when you are playing airsoft. Do you shoot just once? You want to make sure that you hit your target. Sadly, these officers didn't know if the gun was real or not but if it had been a real ak47, they would've been out gunned with just their handguns. The young boy didn't listen or respond to their command to put the weapon down. It's just sad. I am sorry that a life was taken but I don't blame the officers, in fact I don't think there is anyone to blame.
I want to share a positive situation that I had with some sheriff deputies. A couple of years ago my friends and I had found an abandoned warehouse and thought it would be fun to clean it up and play. We knew we were trespassing but we thought we could take the risk. Well, another group showed up to play paintball and seeing us took off. Coincidently, about 10 minutes later, two squad SUV's show up. There were about 15 of us. We quickly went to our cars and put our airsoft rifles away, took off our masks and walked out to meet them with our hands out. We were sited but they didn't do more than that and asked us to leave. I share because even though we trespassed, which I don't condone, it was a positive experience and no one was hurt and no one got in trouble because we respected the sheriff's authority. If only that young boy had done the same.