A Maquoketa, Iowa Police officer was shot in the arm during a traffic stop near a city park. The suspect was later found, dead.
A statement from Maquoketa Police said the officer pulled over behind a truck that was on the side of the road just before 3 a.m. Tuesday, April 1, 2014 in the 200 block of West Grove Street.
It was during that traffic stop that 30-year-old Aaron Edward Scott, of Wyoming, Iowa, reportedly pointed a rifle and shot at the police officer. Initial reports indicated the shots were fired from inside Scott's Dodge Ram pickup truck, but police said at a later news conference that Scott got out of the truck and fired at the officer.
"I just heard pop, pop, pop, and you could hear it like reverberating off the buildings," said Jonathan Wilaglm, who lives just down the street from where the shooting occurred.
The officer, a 13-year veteran of the department, was hit in the arm. The officer's injuries were not life-threatening. State Police said the officer's patrol car was also struck by several rounds.
It was unclear how many shots were fired by Scott. Police said the officer returned fire, but the number of shots he fired was also not yet released.
Police said Scott then fled from the traffic stop location. Other Maquoketa officers pursued the truck but lost it near Elwood in Clinton County.
At an 11 a.m. news conference, police said Scott's body was found in his overturned truck at about 3:20 a.m. in a ditch along 150th Avenue north of Highway 136 in Clinton County, Iowa.
A Jackson County Sheriff's Department spokesman said Scott had been in their jail three separate times for previous OWI arrests.
An autopsy on Scott's body was scheduled for Wednesday, April 2.
The officer involved was placed on paid administrative leave while the incident was investigated.
