AMES, Iowa -- The driver of a stolen truck who was shot and killed on the Iowa State University campus Monday has been identified as 19-year-old Tyler Comstock of Boone. Minutes later, the truck Comstock was driving stopped, and officers commanded him to shut off the vehicle. McPherson is on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into what occurred and whether he should be charged in the fatal shooting. “There were fewer people out and about at that time,” Huff said. Huff said Ames police, the Iowa State University police and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation are working together on the case. Moments later, the police staffer again suggests the officer cut off the pursuit. Shari Comstock goes on to say that she doesn't know why officers shot him "when he was unarmed" and they had him "blocked in." -- The pursuit be ended when the suspect's identity is confirmed and the suspect could be apprehended at a later time.
– The Des Moines Register reports on a fatal police shooting this week, and a quote high up in the story from the victim's father pretty much tells the tragic tale: "He took off with my truck," recalls James Comstock. "I call the police, and they kill him. It was over a damn pack of cigarettes. I wouldn’t buy him none. And I lose my son for that." Comstock explains that his 19-year-old son, Tyler, took off with the truck after their argument, and he called police to teach him a lesson. Then things went horribly wrong. A police cruiser tried to pull Tyler over, but he refused to stop. At one point, he even rammed the officer's car. The chase led onto the campus of Iowa State University, and dispatch audio reveals that a police staffer twice recommended that officers end the pursuit, reports USA Today. They did not, and KCRG reports that pedestrians had to jump out of the path of the truck, which at one point was going against one-way traffic in the bike lane. Tyler eventually stopped the truck, but he kept revving the engine and refused orders to turn it off. At that point, an officer fired six times into the truck, killing him. The shooting remains under investigation. "He didn’t shut the damn truck off, so let’s fire six rounds at him?" asks Tyler's step-grandfather. "We’re confused, and we don’t understand." Police have said they feared for the public's safety if he took off again.