Police shoot thousands of people yearly, yet very seldom is the reason that a car was used as a weapon.
Going back ten years, The New York Times found that when people were unarmed, police would often use the vehicle as a weapon. Police departments changed their policy as those types of shootings were not so easily defended as justified.
A good nationwide study found that about 8% of all police shootings (fatal and nonfatal combined) from 2015–2020 involved officers reporting that a vehicle had been used as a weapon.
Another major investigation by The New York Times looked specifically at more than 400 unarmed motorists killed during traffic stops over a five-year period. In about 250 of those cases, officers justified the shooting by saying “the vehicle was a weapon” or that they believed they were about to be run over.
That investigation also found something important:
- In some cases, the claim was supported by the evidence.
- In other cases, body-camera or surveillance video suggested the driver was trying to flee rather than intentionally strike officers.
- In still other cases, officers had stepped into the vehicle’s path, creating the danger they later cited.
That’s why many police departments changed their policies years ago. The modern guidance from organizations like the Police Executive Research Forum and many large departments is:
Don’t stand in front of moving vehicles, and don’t shoot at moving vehicles unless there’s no reasonable alternative.
Source of the above ChatGPT
Since January 2025, federal immigration officers have fatally shot at least six people. Other published counts place the number higher, depending on which agencies are included.
Nationwide, police officers fatally shoot roughly 1,200–1,300 people each year.
Research examining police shootings found that a relatively small percentage involved officers reporting that a vehicle was used as a weapon. At the same time, police training over the last two decades has increasingly discouraged officers from firing at moving vehicles except in limited circumstances because of the risks and the difficulty of judging intent.
Those are the facts.
Now comes the question.
As additional immigration enforcement shootings occur, is there a recurring pattern in the explanations offered?
Is driving a white van, especially if you look Mexican, making you a target?
