Gordon v. Bierenga

Critical question in cases involving use of deadly force during vehicular flight is “whether the officer has ‘reason to believe that the [fleeing] car presents an imminent danger’ to ‘officers and members of the public in the area.’”; deadly force is justified against “a driver who objectively appears ready to drive into an officer or bystander with his car; deadly force is generally not justified “once the car moves away, leaving the officer and bystanders in a position of safety[,]” but an officer may “continue to fire at a fleeing vehicle even when no one is in the vehicle’s direct path when ‘the officer’s prior interactions with the driver suggest that the driver will continue to endanger others with his car.’” (citations omitted); where driver fled during rush hour on major road adjacent to residential neighborhoods and businesses and had been driving recklessly, law was not clearly established that officer could not fire at car, although he was not in the path of the vehicle.