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N.D. (AP) – A federal appeals court says three law enforcement officers who shot a Jamestown man after he came out of his apartment carrying a shotgun did not use excessive force.

Michael Partlow was hospitalized for about three weeks following the September 2010 incident. Partlow later filed suit against the officers, who appealed after a federal judge failed to dismiss the complaint.

A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 2-1 decision that the officers should not face legal action.

Partlow said in his suit that he was bending down to place the gun on the ground when the officers opened fire. The appeals court said that even if the officers were mistaken about Partlow pointing the gun at them, their reaction was “objectively reasonable.”