Fatal Police Shooting on Iowa Campus Ruled Justified

Authorities say an Ames police officer was justified in firing gunshots that killed a man following a chase on the Iowa State University campus.

Story County Attorney Stephen Holmes said in a statement released by police this morning that officer Adam McPherson acted "reasonably under very difficult circumstances," and was justified in his decision to fire his weapon.

Tyler Comstock, 19, was killed Monday, following the chase, which ended near the Campanile on ISU's central campus. An autopsy showed he died of two gunshot wounds, one to the head and one to the chest.

The shooting happened only 3 minutes after the chase began, and after Ames police responded to a report of a stolen pickup truck. Comstock's mother said it started when her son and his father argued and her son drove off in his father's pickup truck, which was owned by an area lawn care company.

Holmes said Comstock's action did not allow "any amount of time for the officers to devise or employ other means to mitigate or diffuse the situation ahead of the shooting."

"Mr. Comstock's state of mind cannot be an excuse in this instance," Holmes said in the statement, released during a news conference at Ames City Hall this morning. "Whatever Mr. Comstock's state of mind was at the time does not diminish the threat and danger to the public and does not diminish the threat and danger to the responding officers."

Comstock's mother, Shari Comstock of Hamburg, Iowa, said her son had been struggling and had previously received treatment for emotional issues. He had most recently been living in the All for Jesus men's shelter of the Boone Biblical Memorial Church in west Boone for the past two to three weeks, according to Pastor Bruce Thomas, the church's pastor and program director for seven years.

The investigation has been completed, according to special agent in charge with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Mike Motsinger.

Motsinger said Ames police, ISU police and the DCI met with Holmes Wednesday night, discussed the investigation and upon reviewing materials, such as video and officer interviews, determined the use of deadly force was justified.

In his letter, Holmes said that in watching video of the chase, "I can't help but express my concern that it was only by sheer luck that no one else was seriously injured or killed by Mr. Comstock."

During the news conference, police also released the video from the dash camera of Officer McPherson's patrol car.

The video began when McPherson located the pickup near South Fourth Street and University Boulevard. The pickup is shown weaving across traffic lanes with the trailer swerving behind.

At one point, the pickup stops on Beach Avenue and the patrol car stops behind. The pickup backs the trailer into the patrol car, knocking it sideways across the street. The pickup takes off again, and the officer falls behind, as they continue into the ISU central campus. At one point, the trailer can be seen becoming unhitched and rolling across the street.

The pickup continues against one-way traffic on Morrill Road and then jumps the curb onto the grassy area near the Campanile. The patrol car follows, and is then rammed a second time by the pickup.

At that point, an ISU patrol car comes into view and takes the lead of the pursuit. The pickup drives backward across the grassy area, knocking over a homecoming sign, and continuing into a wooded area. The video shows that throughout the chase items were falling from the trailer into the street, and toward the end the pickup truck's topper becomes dislodged.

The video ends in the wooded area near the Campanile with the pickup and the two patrol cars stopped and the sound of six gunshots fired from McPherson's gun. The truck's engine was still running at the time and the shooting occurred after Comstock failed to comply with verbal commands from officers, police said.

Police also released the video from the dash camera from an ISU patrol car. That video shows the Ames patrol car and the ISU patrol car ram the pickup in the wooded area. The pickup began to take off again before stopping against a tree.

Huff said any police scanner communication that took place during the pursuit was between McPherson and supervisors who were working the street.

"At first they did [back off] at the point when the supervisor made the comment to back off," Huff said. "The reason they continued with lights and sirens was as a warning to other bystanders. (Comstock) had not slowed down at all, we had."

Huff said he "does not know" if McPherson, an 8 1/2-year veteran of the department, heard the second call from a supervisor suggesting he could back off.

"That was right when he rammed us again," Huff said. "The officer was in the act of getting out of the car when that transmission came out. At that point it was too late to disengage."

Huff said McPherson, 32, is on paid administrative leave, and that the department does not yet have a timeline of when he will return to active duty.

Copyright 2013 - Ames Tribune, Iowa

McClatchy-Tribune News Service