Back on January 17, 2018, an incident began at the Love’s truck stop in Floyd, Iowa. A woman and her father were there and witnessed a distressed man holding a gun to his head. Law enforcement was notified as the man, Jihad Merrick, sped off south and east at speeds reaching over 100 miles an hour. He was soon caught up to by police and he was stopped south of exit 212 on the Avenue of the Saints near Plainfield, Iowa. A standoff ensued as officers tried for over an hour to get him to come out of his vehicle. He allegedly then accelerated his car at nearby officers. As many as eight rounds from a handgun were fired and one round from a rifle.
Merrick died at the scene, leading to an investigation into the incident.
In a report released this week, Bremer County Attorney Kasey Wadding wrote, “The use of deadly force by the officers was justified in accordance with Iowa law. There were numerous instances where Mr. Merrick’s volatile behavior put the officers and the public in general at serious risk of death.”
FULL REPORT: