While Moriarty suggests that a local investigation will occur, and it might, the practice and policy of officer-involved shootings involving a federal agent is that the FBI and Justice Department will conduct the official investigation and determination of whether the shooting was justified under the law. Federal Statute 28 USC 1442 also ensures that a shooting involving a federal agent is the jurisdiction of the federal government.

The agent’s actions will be evaluated using the “objective reasonableness” standard, which came out of the Supreme Court case, Graham v Conner. The standard evaluates the use of force from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, not from perspective of others months later who have the benefit of hindsight.