That's not even the point. The training should have taught them how to de-escalate the situation, or even let it go. They transformed a 3$ fare skipped into a massacre, how's that normal?
It's 3$, if he has a knife, just let him go, it's not worth the risk. You'll track him down later and get him without killing him, passerbys and other cops.
You don't need to drop a nuke because there's a pickpocketer somewhere in the city
It's why there are words for hearing and listening. Yeah, I heard you, but I wasn't listening