March 29, 2024

Prosecutor: Panora officer justified in shooting man

PANORA (AP) — An Iowa prosecutor says a west-central Iowa police officer was justified in killing a man who charged him holding a knife in an apartment complex hallway.

Guthrie County Attorney Mary Benton says in a report released Tuesday that Panora Officer Rock Armstrong tried repeatedly to calm 26-year-old Joshua Reed, of New Virginia, on July 1 as he sought to talk the raging man out of the apartment.

Benton says Reed was in a friend’s apartment when he threatened the friend with a knife. Armstrong arrived when police were called, and Benton says Reed repeatedly threatened the officer through the locked apartment door.

Benton says Armstrong had no choice but to shoot when Reed came through the door and charged the officer wielding a knife. Benton says she interviewed eye witnesses and reviewed police body camera video in drawing her conclusion.