Banks v. Hawkins

Disputes of fact precluded summary judgment: whether deadly force was necessary to protect suspect’s wife, whether officer reasonably believed suspect was going to attack him, whether officer gave warning before shooting, whether officer reasonably thought suspect was going to seize his gun; if officer could not see where suspect’s wife was relative to his line of fire, he was not acting to protect her when he fired at suspect (citing Craighead v. Scott, 399 F.3d 954 (8th Cir. 2005) (if officer fired shotgun at suspect under circumstances where he knew or should have known that he would hit both suspect and person he claimed to be protecting, he could not have fired the shot to protect that person); if officer fired at suspect instantaneously when suspect opened door without even a “split-second” pause to assess the situation, he would not be entitled to qualified immunity.