In no way am I excusing the absolute bullshit case here, this was a bad shoot all the way around. The officer never identified himself and was acting like a prowler, before giving the homeowner absolutely zero time to comply with an order.

With that said- for a general 'shoot to wound' scenario, there are a lot of reasons against it. Legally, shooting to wound is indefensible- the only time it is legally acceptable to draw a weapon is if someone is considered a lethal threat, drawing a lethal weapon at any other time means the officer (or 'self defender') just became the aggressor. On a practical side, shooting to wound is also next to impossible- legs are small targets and there are arteries which, when hit, are just as lethal as a heart shot. Torso shots... unfortunately, humans are super squishy creatures and any torso shot, even a gut shot, carries a lot of risk of death. On a risk side, if someone is ACTUALLY trying to harm another person and the shoot IS justifiable, a wound shot might still not be enough- even with a shot that ends up lethal, there is a good chance someone survives it long enough to hurt someone else.