Bond v. City of Tahlequah, OK

Reversing summary judgment in favor of officers who shot and killed decedent in his ex-wife’s garage; “the totality of the facts to be considered in determining whether the level of force was reasonable includes any immediately connected actions by the officers that escalated a non-lethal situation to a lethal one”; facts taken in light most favorable to plaintiff were that severity of underlying crime (trespass) was low, officers had not intended to arrest decedent initially thus he was not resisting or attempting to evade arrest, defendant was armed with hammer but jury could conclude he did not make any movements to put officers in fear of serious harm; jury could find that officers unreasonably perceived decedent’s raising hammer as an aggressive movement; jury could find that officer’s initial advance on decedent and officers’ cornering him in back of garage recklessly created situation that led to fatal shooting; if officers recklessly escalated the situation they violated clearly established law and were not entitled to qualified immunity.