CA7: Police shooting at a car shooting at others was a reasonable use of deadly force

Police shooting at a car that just fired at others was not an unreasonable use of deadly force against the occupants. Ybarra v. City of Chicago, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 62 (7th Cir. Jan. 3, 2020):

We conclude that the officers’ use of deadly force against Cruz was an objectively reasonable means to prevent the escape of armed and dangerous suspects who were driving with reckless disregard for the safety of others after firing gunshots at the occupants of another car moments earlier. “A police officer’s use of deadly force on a suspect is a seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment, so the force must be reasonable to be constitutional.” Horton v. Pobjecky, 883 F.3d 941, 948 (7th Cir. 2018). A suspect has a constitutional right not to be shot by an officer unless the officer “reasonably believes that the suspect poses a threat to the officer or someone else.” Id. at 949 (citation and brackets omitted).”