Wilson v. City of Bastrop, 26 F.4th 709

On March 19, 2019 BPD received reports of an armed confrontation at the Eden Apartments and a red truck driven by a Thomas Johnson. Officer Joshua Green responded.
Green stopped a matching red truck near an elementary school; Thomas Johnson III exited the passenger side holding a semiautomatic pistol with an extended magazine and fled when ordered to stop.
Green chased and fired after Johnson as Johnson ran toward onlookers and a school area; Officer John McKinney later arrived, ordered Johnson to drop the gun, and also fired during the chase. Johnson was killed.
Plaintiffs (Johnson’s family and DeOndra Wilson on behalf of her child) sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for excessive force against Green and McKinney and for municipal liability against the City of Bastrop and the BPD.
The district court granted summary judgment to the officers on qualified-immunity grounds, notified plaintiffs of intent to dismiss municipal claims, then entered judgment for the city/BPD; plaintiffs appealed only the officers’ qualified-immunity order.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed that the officers’ use of deadly force was not constitutionally excessive and dismissed the appeal as to the city and BPD for lack of jurisdiction.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Green used constitutionally excessive deadly force	Green unreasonably shot an armed but non-aiming, fleeing suspect; deadly force was unnecessary	Johnson exited with a gun, fled toward bystanders/school, ignored commands; Green reasonably perceived a serious threat	Use of deadly force by Green not excessive; summary judgment for Green affirmed
Whether McKinney used constitutionally excessive deadly force	McKinney acted on a mistaken belief (radio call) and fired when no actual threat existed	McKinney reasonably believed shots had been fired and Johnson posed a serious threat while fleeing with a gun and ignoring commands	Use of deadly force by McKinney not excessive; summary judgment for McKinney affirmed
Qualified immunity / clearly established law	Plaintiffs argue officers violated clearly established Fourth Amendment rights	Defendants invoke qualified immunity; even if mistaken, belief could be reasonable	Court found no constitutional violation and thus did not reach whether the law was clearly established; officers entitled to judgment
Reviewability of municipal-liability dismissal	Plaintiffs contend dismissal of city/BPD claims was premature and appealed that judgment	Defendants note plaintiffs failed to file a new/amended notice of appeal from the subsequent judgment	Appeal as to the City and BPD dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction

Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (U.S. 1989) (Fourth Amendment excessive-force reasonableness standard)
Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1985) (deadly force allowed only when officer has probable cause to believe suspect poses serious threat)
Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223 (U.S. 2009) (courts may decide constitutional violation or clearly-established prong first)
Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194 (U.S. 2001) (qualified immunity may be granted where reasonable mistaken belief exists)
Bazan ex rel. Bazan v. Hidalgo County, 246 F.3d 481 (5th Cir. 2001) (probable cause to believe suspect posed serious harm controls deadly-force analysis)
Joseph ex rel. Estate of Joseph v. Bartlett, 981 F.3d 319 (5th Cir. 2020) (excessive-force injury standard)
Salazar-Limon v. City of Houston, 826 F.3d 272 (5th Cir. 2016) (officers need not wait until suspect points weapon at them before using deadly force)
Betts v. Brennan, 22 F.4th 577 (5th Cir. 2022) (force reasonable at one moment can become unreasonable the next, and vice versa)
Amedee v. Shell Chem., L.P., 953 F.3d 831 (5th Cir. 2020) (district courts may grant summary judgment sua sponte with notice)
Tr. Co. of La. v. N.N.P. Inc., 104 F.3d 1478 (5th Cir. 1997) (scope of notice of appeal preserving intertwined prior orders)