“On Monday, Ames [Iowa] Police Officer Adam McPherson fired six shots into a truck driven by Tyler Comstock, 19, of Boone,” desmoinesregister.com reports. “The chase began after Comstock’s father reported the truck stolen. Comstock at one point backed a trailer he was hauling onto the patrol car’s hood, police said.” What they didn’t say was why Ames Police Officer Adam McPherson continued the chase despite being told to back off twice by an unidentified officer, clearly heard on the official tape. When the truck crashed at Iowa State University, McPherson fired six shots into Comstock, who died from two gunshots wounds. “The officer fired his gun after Comstock did not follow commands to shut the engine off, police said.” That’ll learn ‘im. Yesterday, Officer McPherson got a pass . . .
The officer who shot and killed a 19-year-old driver this week after a chase onto Iowa State University’s campus was cleared Thursday of wrongdoing, completing the investigation, officials said.
Ames Police Officer Adam McPherson “acted reasonably under very difficult circumstances and McPherson’s use of deadly force was justified,” wrote Story County Attorney Stephen Holmes in a letter to Ames Police Chief Charles Cychosz.
Holmes’ findings mean the case will not go to a grand jury, which would have heard evidence in secret and then would have decided whether prosecutors had presented enough evidence to file a criminal charge.
What we’d like to know from desmoinesregister.com (or elsewhere): was Officer McPherson in imminent danger of death or grievous bodily harm and (here’s the crucial bit) was imminence imminent? If not, and if no one else was in jeopardy, and the truck was stuck, what up?