Iowa officer involved shooting justified, attorney says, after fierce gun battle

OTTUMWA, IOWA – An Iowa officer involved shooting was justified, a county attorney says, after a fierce gun battle in which armed men with powerful weapons were near a school.

Wapello, Iowa county attorney Gary E. Oldenburger released the following statement in connection to an incident earlier this month in which armed men shot a man with a rifle then fled police, leading them near a school and the eventual killing of one suspect:

On August 3, 2018 officers responding to a report of a shooting on the south side of Ottumwa engaged in a gun battle with subjects fleeing the scene of the shooting. The incident has been investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and reviewed by the Wapello County Attorney. No criminal charges will be filed against any of the officers involved in the incident.

At approximately 1:42 P.M. on August 3, 2018 the Ottumwa Police Department received a 911 call reporting that someone had been shot in the 800 block of South Lillian in Ottumwa. Information provided to officers was that three male subjects dressed in dark clothing, wearing masks, and armed with rifles, had shot a male victim. Officers located an injured male victim near the driveway of 831 South Lillian who reported he had been shot with a rifle. Witnesses reported that the subjects ran in the direction of the Wapello County Rural Fire Department.

Officers responded to the parking lot of the nearby Liberty Elementary School, to intercept the subjects before they could reach the school. The subjects, one of which was armed with an AR-15 style rifle, were located running in a ditch less than 300 feet from the school. The subjects were ordered to stop and drop their weapons. The subject with the rifle fired at least twice at an Ottumwa Police Department vehicle operated by Police Chief Tom McAndrew, shooting out one of the windows of his vehicle. Officers then engaged the subjects, with a total of five officers firing at the subjects. Two of the subjects, later identified as Michael Paul Bibby and David Roy White, took cover in a soybean field south of the school. One or both of the subjects continued to fire at officers. Officers returned fire, and ultimately David White was killed and Michael Bibby was injured. The third subject, Dalton Cook, was later apprehended in a wooded area nearby.

The actions of the responding officers were absolutely necessary to eliminate the threat the subjects posed to them, their fellow officers, students and staff in the school, and residents in the surrounding neighborhood. Each of the officers involved exposed themselves to grave danger to protect their fellow officers and innocent civilians. There is no question that their actions were legally justified. In fact, if they had not acted, it would have been a gross dereliction of their duty as sworn peace officers to serve and protect our community. Having acted in a legally justified manner, none of the officers involved are subject to any criminal charges related to this incident.