The Des Moines Register reports on a fatal police shooting this week, and a quote high up in the story from the victim's father pretty much tells the tragic tale: "He took off with my truck," recalls James Comstock. "I call the police, and they kill him. It was over a damn pack of cigarettes. I wouldn’t buy him none. And I lose my son for that." Comstock explains that his 19-year-old son, Tyler, took off with the truck after their argument, and he called police to teach him a lesson. Then things went horribly wrong. A police cruiser tried to pull Tyler over, but he refused to stop. At one point, he even rammed the officer's car.
The chase led onto the campus of Iowa State University, and dispatch audio reveals that a police staffer twice recommended that officers end the pursuit, reports USA Today. They did not, and KCRG reports that pedestrians had to jump out of the path of the truck, which at one point was going against one-way traffic in the bike lane. Tyler eventually stopped the truck, but he kept revving the engine and refused orders to turn it off. At that point, an officer fired six times into the truck, killing him. The shooting remains under investigation. "He didn’t shut the damn truck off, so let’s fire six rounds at him?" asks Tyler's step-grandfather. "We’re confused, and we don’t understand." Police have said they feared for the public's safety if he took off again. (More Iowa stories.)
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