Antoinette Liggins v. Michael Cohen, 971 F.3d 798

Background:

Officers responded to a 911 report that a stolen .40 caliber pistol was at an apartment complex; suspects were two teen brothers (A.C., 15; B.C., 16).
B.C. had the reported stolen gun in an over-the-shoulder bag; when officers arrived he ran from the breezeway toward the rear of the property and pulled the gun out, holding it in his right hand while running.
Officer Michael Cohen arrived in the rear parking lot, exited his vehicle, rounded a parked truck, and two seconds later fired four shots at B.C.; the first missed and three struck B.C., who sustained paralysis below the waist.
The district court denied Cohen’s summary judgment motion (describing it as a close case), identifying disputes over whether B.C. was running toward Cohen, whether any warning was given, and whether a warning was feasible.
The panel reviewed the facts in the light most favorable to plaintiffs but treated the reasonableness of force as a legal question; it concluded a reasonable officer could have perceived an imminent threat and that a warning was not feasible under the circumstances.
The Eighth Circuit reversed the district court, holding the use of deadly force was not unconstitutional on these facts.

Issues:

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Cohen’s shooting was an unreasonable use of deadly force under the Fourth Amendment	Shooting a fleeing teen who did not raise the gun above his waist was excessive; genuine factual disputes preclude summary judgment	Cohen reasonably perceived imminent threat from a fleeing suspect holding a gun and had to act in split-second circumstances	Use of deadly force was reasonable; summary judgment for officer should have been granted
Whether a warning was required or feasible before shooting	No warning was given; plaintiffs argue a warning was required and feasible	Officer had only seconds and could not feasibly give an effective warning without risking harm	Warning not required where hesitation would create the officer’s last warning; not feasible here
Whether factual disputes (direction of movement; warning feasibility) should go to a jury	Plaintiffs: disputed facts preclude resolution as a matter of law	Officer: given assumed facts, reasonableness is a legal question for the court	Court treated reasonableness as a legal question once facts are assumed and resolved in favor of officer
Whether the officer-created-danger doctrine bars relief because police positioned themselves where suspect might flee	Plaintiffs: officers created the dangerous situation	Officer: positioning to contain a suspect investigating a stolen gun was reasonable tactic	Positioning did not make force unreasonable; officer not barred by officer-created-danger claim

Key Cases Cited

Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (U.S. 1989) (Graham reasonableness framework for Fourth Amendment excessive-force claims)
Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1985) (deadly force permissible if officer has probable cause to believe suspect poses serious threat; warnings if feasible)
Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372 (U.S. 2007) (when video and undisputed facts are clear, reasonableness can be decided as a matter of law)
Loch v. City of Litchfield, 689 F.3d 961 (8th Cir. 2012) (applying objective-reasonableness standard under Graham)
Malone v. Hinman, 847 F.3d 949 (8th Cir. 2017) (deadly force may be justified before a weapon is actually pointed when imminent threat is reasonable)
Thompson v. Hubbard, 257 F.3d 896 (8th Cir. 2001) (officer may use force based on reasonable perception of threat)
Nance v. Sammis, 586 F.3d 604 (8th Cir. 2009) (distinguishes cases where shooting without warning was unreasonable, e.g., toy gun scenarios)
Craighead v. Lee, 399 F.3d 954 (8th Cir. 2005) (unreasonable use of deadly force where officer fired without warning amidst chaotic struggle)
Wealot v. Brooks, 865 F.3d 1119 (8th Cir. 2017) (shot an unarmed man turning to surrender; used to show limits on deadly force)
Partlow v. Stadler, 774 F.3d 497 (8th Cir. 2014) (focus on what a reasonable officer on the scene would perceive)
Hicks v. Scott, 958 F.3d 421 (6th Cir. 2020) (warning not feasible where giving one would likely be the officer’s last)
United States v. Bates, 584 F.3d 1105 (8th Cir. 2009) (stolen firearms are particularly dangerous and often used in crimes)