An officer responding to a shots fired call at a house found windows shot out in the house and a car and shell casings in the street. That gave him cause to enter the house under exigent circumstances. United States v. Maytubby, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69383 (W.D. Okla. September 25, 2006):<\/p>\n
Having carefully reviewed the parties’ submissions, and having heard the evidence presented at the hearing, the Court finds that the government has met its burden of establishing the exigent circumstance of risk of personal danger. Officer McCaleb was responding to a shootout in and around the Residence, and within minutes of hearing gunshots, he observed spent shell casings in the street in front of the Residence, a car with its windows shot out in the driveway of the Residence, and the Residence’s front storm door shot out. Additionally, after Maytubby opened the front door, Officer McCaleb saw a spent shell casing in plain view just inside the front door. Based upon these observations, the Court finds that Officer McCaleb had an objectively reasonable basis to believe that there was an immediate need to protect the lives and safety of himself, the occupants of the Residence, and the occupants of the neighboring houses. The Court further finds that it would be unreasonable to expect a prudent, cautious, and trained officer to walk away under the circumstances. Finally, the Court finds that the manner and scope of the protective sweep conducted by the officers was reasonable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Somewhat similar is State v. Pseudae, 908 A.2d 809 (N.H. September 27, 2006), involving a man alleged to have threatened to kill himself. He came out of the house and advanced on the officers with his hands in his pockets, and he refused to remove his hands. He walked up to the officer’s gun where the barrel was in his chest, so the officers wrestled him to the ground. After his arrest, officers could enter the house to look for the gun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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