It gets considerably murkier when the officer in question is a few inches away.

Sure. But prosecutors wouldn't deal with that "murkiness" by trying to get away from the statute. They would instead have to establish that the officer wasn't in the path of the vehicle. The mere act of starting a vehicle in motion from a full stop won't put anyone's life in danger unless that person is in the path of the car. If he was in the path of the car when he fired the fatal shot, he might have a good defense; if he wasn't, it becomes more plausible that a prosecution would be appropriate.

Speculation about a MN prosecution is based on the video evidence which suggests that the officer who fired was not directly in front of the car at the time he fired, but instead slightly off to the side. As you might imagine, that speculation is heightened by the Administration's apparent determination not to allow local authorities to also participate in the investigation - which of course is going to get everyone's conspiracy theory antenna going just as much as a Democratic FBI icing out a red state police department would stir up the same among conservatives.

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