What federal policy says about shooting at vehicles
A bullet hole is seen in the windshield as law enforcement officers work at the scene of a shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis.
(AP Photo/Tom Baker)
(AP) – The Department of Justice says in its Justice Manual that firearms should not be used simply to disable a moving vehicle.
The policy allows deadly force only in limited circumstances, such as when someone in the vehicle is threatening another person with deadly force, or when the vehicle itself is being used in a way that poses an imminent risk and no reasonable alternative exists, including moving out of the vehicle’s path.
Police training experts have told The Associated Press that officers are generally taught not to step in front of moving vehicles to try to block them.
Training also emphasizes weighing the totality of the situation, including whether the person involved poses an immediate danger and whether the underlying allegation involves violence.
Many department policies specifically bar firing at vehicles just to stop a fleeing suspect.
Some policing experts say the rules need flexibility, pointing to cases in which people have used vehicles as weapons, including attacks in recent years where cars were driven into crowds.
The debate has been sharpened by high-profile cases, including a 2023 shooting in Ohio in which an officer fired through a windshield in a grocery store parking lot while investigating a shoplifting allegation, killing the pregnant motorist. The officer was later charged and acquitted.
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Many police agencies limit shooting at moving vehicles
For decades, police departments across the U.S. have limited when officers are allowed to fire at moving vehicles, citing the danger to bystanders and the risk that a driver who is shot will lose control.
The New York Police Department was among the first major agencies to adopt those limits. The department barred officers from firing at or from moving vehicles after a 1972 shooting killed a 10-year-old passenger in a stolen car and sparked protests.
Researchers in the late 1970s and early 1980s later found that the policy, along with other use-of-force restrictions, helped reduce bystanders being struck by police gunfire and led to fewer deaths in police shootings.
Over the years, many law enforcement agencies followed New York’s lead. Policing organizations such as the Police Executive Research Forum and the International Association of Chiefs of Police have recommended similar limits, warning that shooting at vehicles creates serious risks from stray gunfire or from a vehicle crashing if the driver is hit.
