A decision made by a police officer in a split second can determine whether someone lives or dies.

The video released to lehighvalleylive.com of the shootout between Daniel Clary and two Pennsylvania state police troopers shows how quickly a routine traffic stop can turn into a life or death struggle.

Daniel Clary, left, and Seth Kelly

Northampton County First Deputy District Attorney Terence Houck released the video to demonstrate exactly that point.

He released it only after consulting with the family of Corporal Seth Kelly, who nearly died in the shootout. He also spoke with trooper Ryan Seiple and his family.

The video shot from the dashboard of a state police cruiser shows Seiple trying to arrest Clary for driving under the influence. Clary breaks away and the troopers spend about a minute trying to subdue him until Clary dashes for his car and pulls out a gun.

Kelly was shot four times during the exchange of gunfire Nov 7, 2017, on the side of Route 33 in Plainfield Township.

He arrived at a local hospital clinically dead. He spent 12 days in a medically-induced coma and 25 days in the hospital. He doesn't remember the shootout.

Houck showed jurors the 45-minute video of the traffic stop, the struggle and its aftermath. He released the entire video to lehighvalleylive.com. We cut out the approximately two-minute segment from where Clary initially resists until he flees in his car.

The video is violent and jarring. Houck believes he could have suppressed its release. But he and the troopers believe it's important that the public should view the video to see just how dangerous police work can be and to see the restraint employed by the troopers before they were forced to open fire.

"We think the community should see it," Houck said.

Clary, 22, of Effort, Pa., was convicted June 29 of multiple felonies, including attempting to kill Seiple and Kelly. His attorney argued at trial he was scared and shot at the troopers because he feared for his life.

Clary will be sentenced Aug. 31.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.