KDSN RADIO News
Sioux City officer cleared in fatal shooting
(Radio Iowa) – The Woodbury County Attorney has ruled that a Sioux City police officer was justified in a shooting on February 22nd that left a man dead. Attorney James Loomis says 30-year-old Vincente Manzo Hernandez was shot during a traffic stop as he pulled away with an officer hanging on the car. “At this point, it is clear that Mr. Hernandez was in control of how fast the car would be going, but nobody was in control of which direction it would go,” he says. “This officer was in serious danger. The officer fired two shots with his firearm to incapacitate Mr. Hernandez and get the car stopped.”
Hernandez later died and an autopsy was conducted by the state medical examiner.
“As part of that, a blood toxicology was conducted. It was determined that at the time of his death, Mr. Hernandez had fentanyl and high levels of methamphetamine in his bloodstream. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation investigated the incident, and its investigation is complete.
Loomis says the officer had no choice but to fire his weapon, and the Iowa Attorney General has reached the same conclusion.
