Opinion ID: 71806
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: application of the standard to the facts

Text: 14 We need not decide whether Montoute has established that no officer reasonably could have believed that Montoute, when shot, had already committed a crime involving the infliction of serious physical harm. That question addresses one of two alternative grounds for the use of deadly force. The other basis provides a clearer foundation for decision in this case. Montoute has failed to convince us that no officer reasonably could have believed that he posed a risk of serious physical injury to Sergeant Carr or others, as he fled with the sawed-off shotgun in hand. 15 Counsel for Montoute conceded at oral argument that if Carr had shot Montoute as he was approaching him, Carr would be entitled to qualified immunity. In other words, Montoute concedes that an officer reasonably could have believed that he presented a risk of serious physical harm until the time he passed where Carr was standing. Nonetheless, Montoute argues that once he passed where Carr was standing and was running away, no officer reasonably could have believed that Montoute continued to pose such a risk. We are not convinced that the danger Montoute posed vanished in a matter of a few steps. More to the point, an officer in those circumstances reasonably could have believed that the danger Montoute presented did not end after he passed Carr. 16 We accept for the present purposes that, once past Sergeant Carr, Montoute never turned to face him again, and Montoute never actually pointed the sawed-off shotgun at anyone. But there was nothing to prevent him from doing either, or both, in a split second. At least where orders to drop the weapon have gone unheeded, an officer is not required to wait until an armed and dangerous felon has drawn a bead on the officer or others before using deadly force. Sergeant Carr faced a situation fraught with danger. Montoute had fired an illegal weapon while in a crowd of people in a near-riot situation. He was armed with a 12-gauge, pistol-grip, sawed-off, pump shotgun. Such weapons are specifically designed or altered, and frequently used, by criminals to kill people, which is why the possession of such weapons is a felony in many states, including Florida. Any officer would know that, and would know that pump shotguns can carry and fire more than one round. Therefore, an officer reasonably could have believed the pistol-grip, 12-gauge, sawed-off shotgun Montoute carried was still loaded, as it actually was. Montoute's unexplained refusal to obey the repeated orders to drop the sawed-off shotgun provided an additional basis for inferring that he presented a risk of serious physical injury to an officer or someone else. 4 17 In view of all of the facts, we cannot say that an officer in those volatile circumstances could not reasonably have believed that Montoute might wheel around and fire his shotgun again, or might take cover behind a parked automobile or the side of a building and shoot at the officers or others. Indeed, if the officers had allowed Montoute to take cover, or perhaps circle back around to the crowd, he could have posed even more danger than when he had presented a clear target as he approached them. Recall that even Montoute concedes that Sergeant Carr would have been protected by qualified immunity if he had shot Montoute as he approached the officers. Under the circumstances, Carr is no less entitled to qualified immunity because he shot Montoute later instead of sooner. 18 Our decision in this case is consistent with the holding in Harrell v. Decatur County, 41 F.3d 1494 (11th Cir.1995) vacating and adopting dissent in 22 F.3d 1570 (11th Cir.1994). In that case, we upheld qualified immunity where a law enforcement officer shot and killed a felony suspect, because the officer reasonably could have believed the suspect was reaching under the seat of the automobile for a weapon. 22 F.3d at 1580-81. If qualified immunity applies in those circumstances, as we held in Harrell, it applies where the felony suspect already had a dangerous weapon in hand and refused to drop it.