Wednesday, July 23, 2008; Posted 4.11 pm (CDT)

Officials say Fabian Gomez pulled out a BB gun that looked like a semiautomatic pistol. With only seconds to assess the situation, officers say they don't always have the luxury of analyzing the weapon.

"Some officers have waited past that split second and they have paid the ultimate price for that," says Capt. Steve McCool with Oklahoma City Police.

Three police-involved shootings have taken place in less than two weeks, and that's causing some to question whether officers are firing too soon.

"There have been three shootings over here," says Twin Lakes Apartments resident John Lathing. "Why is that? Because police are pulling out their guns, and they're shooting people."

Lathing believes the officer-involved shooting that happened at the Twin Lakes Apartment complex involving an 18-year-old who later died was not justified.

"Police need to go train more because they're putting out their guns ... they're doing it more frequently," says Lathing.

"You must look at each one on it's individual merits, not how close they happen together," says McCool.

McCool says a thorough investigation takes place after each officer-involved shooting, and he says officers are trained to fire only when they or a citizen may be in grave danger.

"When an officer feels it has risen to that threat level, chances are he is going to discharge his weapon," says McCool. "We do what we need to do to protect the citizens of the area and ourselves."

In the case of Gomez, pulling out a weapon and aiming at an officer was enough to make the officer believe there was an immediate threat.

"We always have this saying, 'Watch the hands. Watch the hands. Watch the hands,'" says McCool. "It's the hands that will kill you."

Authorities say Gomez was very lucky he was only shot in the hand. They say officer training is about aiming at the body and not the hand, where the gun may be.

Oklahoma City police say after they investigate and review the officer-involved shooting, it goes to the District Attorney for his assessment as well.