Some case law.
An officer cannot get in front of a vehicle, then claim self defense.
Estate of Starks v. Enyart, 5 F.3d 230 (7th Cir. 1993)
Seventh Circuit – foundational caseFacts:
Officer stepped in front of a slowly moving vehicle and then shot the driver, claiming fear for his life.
Holding (paraphrased):
“An officer may not unreasonably create a physically threatening situation and then use deadly force to escape it.”
Adams v. Speers, 473 F.3d 989 (9th Cir. 2007) Ninth Circuit
Facts:
Officer jumped in front of a vehicle during a stop and then fired.
Holding:
An officer cannot provoke a confrontation and then rely on the danger they created to justify deadly force.
Key language:
The court emphasized that reasonableness includes the officer’s own tactical decisions leading up to the shooting.
Thompson v. Hubbard, 257 F.3d 896 (8th Cir. 2001)
Eighth Circuit
Key point:
The court rejected summary judgment for officers where evidence showed the officer moved into the vehicle’s path, creating the perceived threat.
Abraham v. Raso, 183 F.3d 279 (3d Cir. 1999)
Third Circuit
Facts:
Off-duty officer shot a fleeing driver.
Holding:
The court stressed that pre-seizure conduct matters and that officers cannot rely solely on the “split second” framing if their own actions escalated the situation.
Kirby v. Duva, 530 F.3d 475 (6th Cir. 2008)
Holding:
Deadly force may be unconstitutional where:
The officer fired into a moving vehicle
The officer could have stepped aside
The threat was self-created
The Sixth Circuit explicitly rejected the idea that a moving car automatically justifies gunfire.
Adams v. Speers, 473 F.3d 989 (9th Cir. 2007)
Holding:
An officer may not intentionally place himself in danger and then use deadly force to neutralize the danger he created — including firing into a vehicle.
The Ninth Circuit emphasized tactical disengagement as the constitutional expectation.
Training & Policy Alignment (Courts Care About This)
Many courts note that modern police training instructs:
Do not fire into moving vehicles
Do not use deadly force to stop a fleeing car
Disengage and contain instead
Courts treat violations of training as evidence of unreasonableness, even if not ALSO read up on Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985), is a civil case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that, under the Fourth Amendment, when a law enforcement officer is pursuing a fleeing suspect, the officer may not use deadly force to prevent escape unless "the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others."[1]
It was found that the use of deadly force to prevent escape is an unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment, in the absence of probable cause that the fleeing suspect posed a physical danger.[2]: 563–7 Legal scholars have expressed support for this decision stating that the decision had "a strong effect on police behavior" and specifically that it can "influence police use of deadly force."[3]
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