An armed guard observes a person actively swinging a baseball bat at customers' heads inside the store. The guard's firearm may be used:

Explanation

California's deadly-force standard (PC §835a(c)(1); People v. Humphrey reasonable belief analysis; Graham v. Connor totality test) authorizes deadly force only on a reasonable belief of imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury. Active bat strikes to heads plainly create such a threat. Waiting for a fatal blow (b) is not required and would be tactically catastrophic. 'Shoot to wound' (c) is a training myth — firearms training is shoot center mass to stop a threat. Radio authorization (d) is not a legal prerequisite for self-defense.