Jackson v. Gautreaux, No. 20-30442 (5th Cir. 2021)
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The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment based on qualified immunity to police officers who shot and killed Travis Stevenson. Stevenson was shot after unsuccessful efforts by police to deescalate a situation where Stevenson repeatedly slammed his vehicle into a police cruiser and a concrete pillar in front of an apartment building while yelling "Kill me!"
The court concluded that the district court correctly held, in accordance with precedent, that plaintiffs' excessive-force claim fails as a matter of law. In this case, Stevenson was using his car as a weapon; Stevenson, like the drivers in the court's precedent, exhibited volatile behaviors that contributed to the officers justification in firing to prevent death or great bodily harm; and plaintiffs have not produced any evidence that suggests the officers might have had a reasonable alternative course of action. The court agreed with the district court that plaintiffs forfeited their failure-to-train claim against the sheriff by failing to plead it in their complaint and raising it only in response to the officers' motion for summary judgment.
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