Police Shooting, Johnson v. City of New York

The Court of Appeals recently held that police officers and city were immune from liability for accidental shooting of bystanders during shootout with armed robbery suspect.The Court held that the fact that police officers who were in pursuit of an armed robbery suspect who had opened fire on them on a public street did not observe two bystanders hiding on the ground behind a sport utility vehicle at the time they exercised their judgment in returning fire did not raise an issue as to whether the officers unnecessarily endangered innocent persons. As such, the officers and the city were immune from liability for the accidental shooting of the bystanders during the exchange of gunfire between the officers and the robbery suspect. The Court reasoned as such given that the officers had a clear view of the suspect when they returned fire, that the officers did not see any bystanders in the area while firing on the suspect, and that the bystanders were not in the line of fire during the shootout.