He kept his distance, and seemed ready to fire if anything came out of that pocket.
I think it would be a mistake to assume it was fear and hesitation and to fire a guy for this.
You clearly have zero force on force training or know what you are talking about.
Even shooting the subject in the chest several times chances are the perp would pull a gun or a knife and work you over, you would feel pretty stupid while both of you sat there and bled out...
You might want to watch some FBI 21ft rule videos or practice having someone run up on you while you are walking backwards away from them, you will find yourself on the ground with them on top of you.