Waterloo, IA (AP) — A prosecutor has ruled that a police officer who shot and paralyzed a man in downtown Waterloo, Iowa, in April acted legally because the target appeared to be chasing a deputy with a shotgun.
Black Hawk County Attorney Brian Williams says Waterloo police officer C.J. Nichols did not know that the long, dark weapon carried by Marcelino Alvarez-Victoriano was a pellet gun until after Nichols shot him.
He says video from the officer’s body camera and two deputies’ squad cars show the 44-year-old Alvarez-Victoriano chasing Black Hawk County deputy Blake Dodd with what appears to be a firearm.
Alvarez-Victoriano has filed a lawsuit alleging that the shooting was excessive force.
