Qualified immunity

RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit reversed a lower court’s grant of qualified immunity to a West Virginia state trooper in a suit involving the shooting death of a suspect during a foot chase. The suspect did not have a gun but he was violent, erratic and his adult son had told 911 dispatchers he had often made threats about shooting police. Given that the suspect was shot in the back, a jury could conclude he was shot in the back while unarmed and running away, which would violate his “clearly established rights.”