Page:Tenorio v Pitzer 10th Circuit.pdf/21

 suspect; and (4) the manifest intentions of the suspect." 511 F.3d at 1260 (citing Walker, 451 F.3d at 1159; Jiron v. City of Lakewood, 392 F.3d 410, 414–15 (10th Cir. 2004); Zuchel I, 890 F.2d at 274). In doing so, the court looked at far more facts than charging, stabbing, and slashing to determine whether the officer had shown probable cause of serious physical harm to himself or others.

Even under the majority's shrunken analytical framework, I still cannot understand its bases for denying qualified immunity in this case. Although the majority apparently contends that Tenorio was not "charging" the officers, Maj. Op. at 12, I fail to see the difference between “charging” the officers and advancing toward them with a knife without pausing or breaking stride. I suspect that officers would much prefer a "charging" suspect from twenty feet away to a "non-charging" Tenorio advancing on them in a sixteen-foot room with a difficult retreat. In this situation, we need to recognize the immediacy of the life-threatening danger to the officers. As I understand the majority's new approach, Tenorio was free to get right up to the officers so long as he did not "charge" them while making stabbing or slashing motions with the knife. This ill-conceived approach ignores how quickly a knife-wielding man can thrust a knife and kill or grievously wound an officer or a bystander. It also fails to recognize the danger to the officers and Tenorio's family had Tenorio gotten close enough to wrestle Officer Pitzer for his gun. Guns can fire in melees—accidentally or otherwise. The majority's 8