WILLIAMSBURG, IOWA – A Desert Storm veteran was gunned down by an Iowa police officer last month, and the county attorney says the shooting was lawful.
On June 10, 2017 around 8:25 PM, officers with the Williamsburg, Iowa police department and the Iowa County sheriff’s office responded to a domestic disturbance involving a gun. The location was within the 100 block of South Walnut Street in North English, Iowa. This incident led to the officer involved shooting of 53-year-old Robin Lee Blaylock, a Desert Storm veteran, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
After an investigation, the Iowa County Attorney’s Office reviewed witness statements, reports, and recordings regarding the incident. It was found that Robin Lee Blaylock, a husband and father of one, died as a result of a gunshot wound inflicted upon him by Williamsburg police officer Blake Heller.
According to the Iowa county attorney’s office:
“Iowa Code §704.1 defines reasonable force as that force and no more which a reasonable person, in similar circumstances, would judge to be necessary to prevent an injury or loss and can include deadly force if it is reasonable to believe that such force is necessary to avoid injury or risk to one’s life or safety or the life or safety of another, or it is reasonable to believe that such force is necessary to resist a like force or threat. In this case, the actions of Robin Lee Blaylock pointing his firearm not once but twice at officers, while refusing to obey officer commands, justified the use of deadly force against Robin Lee Blaylock. The officers could have on more than one occasion on June 10, 2017, feared for their own safety or the safety of the other officers such that the use of deadly force by Officer Blake Heller was justified under these circumstances.”
As a result, the Iowa County Attorneys office has made the determination that the shooting of Robin Lee Blaylock, while being a homicide, was a justified homicide on the part of officer Blake Heller.