Lopez v. Sheriff of Cook County

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendants-police officials' motion for summary judgment in section 1983 action' alleging that defendant-officer used excessive force when apprehending plaintiff during incident in which officer shot plaintiff after plaintiff had shot twice at bystanders in street and turned toward officer while waving gun. Record showed that, after plaintiff was shot, associate of plaintiff picked up plaintiff's gun and shot at officer, and officer thereafter used plaintiff as human shield and pointed gun at plaintiff's head during standoff with associate until associate fled scene. Officer was entitled to qualified immunity, since his actions were objectively reasonable, where plaintiff posed imminent threat to safety of officer and bystanders, and since there was no Supreme Court precedent that clearly established that officer's split-second decision to shoot plaintiff was unlawful. Similarly, no Supreme Ct. case law showed that officer's subsequent conduct in using plaintiff as human shield and pointing gun at plaintiff's head to deter associate from shooting anyone violated clearly established law, especially where plaintiff repeatedly attempted to swat at officer's gun. Fact that, in hindsight, there was reasonable chance that plaintiff was about to get in his car and leave scene right when officer shot him does not require different result.