A federal judge refused to dismiss all the claims against a Columbus police officer and the city stemming from a high-speed chase that ended with a stolen car being chased into Alabama, where it was riddled by police gunfire that left the teenage driver dead and two passengers wounded.

Judge Clay Land of Georgia's Middle District said the officer, city and police chief are protected from the three lawsuits' claims for violations of state and federal law from damages resulting from the officer's first volley of 11 shots fired into the car as it backed up after crashing.

But, he said, a second fusillade of 10 more shots into the stopped car after the officer reloaded was "a different story."

Ruling on a defense motion for summary judgment, Land said the evidence thus far indicated that officer Allan Brown Jr. "was in no danger when he fired the second round of shots" and that the claims against him and the city based on those shots can proceed.

Land dismissed all the claims against Police Chief Ricky Boren, writing that there was no indication he acted unlawfully or was responsible for Brown's actions.

A lawyer representing the city and Brown—who is no longer with department—said they were "pleased that the court dismissed all of the claims against Chief Boren and most of the claims against officer Allan Brown and the city," said Page, Scrantom, Sprouse, Tucker & Ford partner Thomas Gristina via email.

"We will appeal what remains of the case to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and are confident that we will be successful in having the entire case dismissed," said Gristina, who is defending the case with firm colleagues James Clark, Jr. and Tyler Cashbaugh, and Columbus City Attorney Clifton Fay and staff attorney Lucy Sheftall.

The grandmother of the dead teen, 17-year-old Christian Redwine, is represented by Robert Wadkins Jr. of Columbus' Wadkins & Wadkins; Benjamin Wallace of Columbus' Brown & Adams; and Steven Couch of Birmingham's Couch & Firth. Plaintiff Hunter Tillis is represented by Renee Tucker, Forrest Johnson and Hannah Ward of Atlanta's Forrest B. Johnson & Associates; and plaintiff Hannah Wuenschel is represented by Mark Post of Columbus' Mark Post Law.

Post said he is still considering his options after Land's Dec. 13 ruling. The other lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

As detailed in the order and other filings, the incident began when Redwine, accompanied by Tillis and Wuenschel, took a Pontiac G6 that belonged to a friend of his grandmother's from the house all three shared in Columbus.

The owner called police around 3:30 a.m. and reported that the 17-year-old had stolen the car.

A police captain in an unmarked car saw the Pontiac pull into the parking lot of a closed business, stop briefly, then leave an hour later. The officer began to follow the car, radioed in the description and learned it was reported stolen.

Redwine hit the gas when they realized the police were behind them, reportedly reaching speeds of more than 100 mph and "driving crazy, pulling up on the e-brake and making the car slide all over the place," according to a deposition Tillis gave later.

Brown was at the police station when the call came in reporting the chase. He jumped into a cruiser and joined in, chasing the car across a bridge over the Chattahoochee River into Phenix City, Alabama.

Redwine lost control and crashed into some bushes with Brown close behind, radioing in that the car had "wrecked out" and was "spinning."

Brown stopped behind behind the rear passenger side of the car and got out, as the Pontiac began backing up.

Brown started firing into the rear window and kept firing through the front passenger window as the car passed him.

Wuenschel could be heard screaming "No! Stop! Please! I got shot!" on Brown's dash cam video, as the Pontiac backed across the street and came to a "gentle stop," according to Tillis' deposition.

Brown ran out of ammunition, reloaded and kept firing through the Pontiac's windshield

Redwine died at the scene with 11 gunshot wounds. Willis was shot twice, with one bullet—fired during the second volley of shots—going through his nose and coming out of his mouth. Wuenschel was shot once in the shoulder during the first volley, with the bullet exiting near her elbow.

Redwine's grandmother Nancy Sorrells, Tillis and Wuenschel sued Brown, Boren and the consolidated government of Columbus for claims including Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment violations for the use of excessive force and unreasonable seizure, and state law claims for excessive force, negligence, wrongful death and battery.

All the defendants were sued in their official capacities, and Boren and Brown were also sued in their individual capacities. Land said all were shielded from liability for the initial chase and injuries from the initial volley of gunfire, since the officer could have reasonably believed that the car backing up could have swerved to hit him.

"The Eleventh Circuit has 'consistently upheld' an officer's use of deadly force in cases where the officer reasonably believed his life was endangered by a suspect who 'used or threatened to use his car as a weapon,'" Land wrote, citing a 2009 decision in McCullough v. Antolini, 559 F.3d 1201.

But he said if the plaintiffs' account is taken as true, as required when ruling on summary judgment, Brown was 15 feet from the Pontiac, which was either rolling slowly or stopped, when he reloaded and fired 10 more shots. Although Brown had said he heard the car's engine after it stopped, no such sound was heard on his car's dash-cam video, Land said.

"Based on these facts, no reasonable officer in Brown's position would have concluded that the Pontiac posed an imminent threat of serious physical harm to himself when Brown decided to shoot at the Pontiac ten more times," he wrote.

Land conceded that the defense motion was "complicated by the court's conclusions that the first round of shots did not violate the Fourth Amendment but that the second round of shots did. If any of the occupants of the vehicle were solely injured by the first round of shots, then they would have no claim."

But, he said, at this point, "the record is not fully developed for the court to decide this causation issue as a matter of law at this stage of the proceedings. Thus, while Brown is not entitled to summary judgment based on qualified immunity as to the second round of shots, it remains to be seen whether he is entitled to summary judgment based on causation."

Similarly, whether the city could be dismissed at this point is still unclear, Land said.

"The record has not been developed on the issue of whether CCG had an 'official policy' that caused the constitutional violation," he wrote.

Boren, he said, could not be held liable for any of the claims.