The suspect who was shot Monday morning by an Ames Police officer on the campus of Iowa State University has died. The man reportedly stole his father’s truck and trailer around 10 a.m., and when police spotted him, he led them on a chase that ended when he jumped a curb near the Campanile on the I-S-U campus. Ames Police Commander Geoff Huff says the truck became stuck, but the man continued to rev the engine, moving slightly forward and back.

“Officers were yelling verbal commands to stop, but he wouldn’t. They were really afraid that he was going to break loose again,” Huff said. “We had pedestrians in that area – it’s really a pedestrian area of campus, so one of our officers fired into the truck.”

The officer fired six rounds into the truck, hitting the suspect at least once. He was taken to an Ames hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Huff defended the officer’s actions, noting the suspect had previously put the truck in reverse and rammed the trailer into a patrol car. In addition, the truck had traveled the wrong way down a one way street and went through grassy areas of the ISU campus with people jumping out of the way.

“You know, I think (officers) did everything they could,” Huff said. “There were a lot of people that were put in danger by this and I think that was kind of the option that was left. When the vehicle backed up and backed the trailer partially up over the hood (of the patrol car), that was very dangerous for the officer. It was probably in our best interest to continue to pursue to try and stop this person before anybody else got hurt. Unfortunately, the result was he wouldn’t stop.”

The name of the suspect and the officer involved have not been released.

(Radio Iowa)