By Police1 Staff
PLAINFIELD, Iowa — Dash cam footage of a fatal officer-involved shooting of an armed man was released after the LEOs were cleared in the shooting.
The Courier reports that on Jan. 17, police stopped 29-year-old Jihad Mustafa Merrick for going 104 mph on a highway. Nashua Officer Ben Scholl approached Merrick and called for backup after seeing the suspect point a gun to his head. It was later reported that Merrick was pointing a gun at himself in a parking lot of a truck stop prior to the traffic stop.
After backup arrived, the LEOs repeatedly asked the suspect to drop his weapon and exit his vehicle, which he refused to do. Merrick did exit his vehicle three times with a gun still pointed to his head, according to a police report.
After officers heard a shot fired from the vehicle, they approached the car and saw Merrick unharmed and his gun on the passenger seat. Trooper Ken Haut broke the driver’s window to secure Merrick’s hands, while Trooper Nathaniel Miller broke the passenger’s window to retrieve the gun.
During the ensuing struggle, Deputy Glenn Beenblossom was attempting to enter the car when Merrick got his right hand free and accelerated the vehicle. Beenblossom’s leg and foot were “caught by the car” when Merrick accelerated.
Beenblossom and Deputy Adam Hanson fired at Merrick after Haut ordered them to shoot. Merrick was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Tuesday, County Attorney Kasey Wadding found the shooting justified and declined to file charges against the officers involved, according to KIMT.
“Mr. Merrick knew or reasonably should have known that the act of putting his vehicle in gear and accelerating while the officers tried to extricate him from his vehicle would create a strong probability that serious injury would result,” Wadding wrote in his report. “The officers had a reasonable belief that the use of deadly force was necessary to avoid injury or risk to their lives and was necessary to resist the like force or threat.”