DES MOINES, Iowa — An officer with the Leon Police Department shot a man early Sunday after the man “sprayed the Leon officer with a chemical agent,” according to a statement released Sunday afternoon by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, which is investigating the officer-involved shooting.
According to the DCI statement, the Leon police officer conducted a traffic stop at 3:08 a.m. Sunday in the 300 block of N.W. Third Street in Leon. During the traffic stop, the driver of the vehicle, a male in is 50s, sprayed the police officer.
The officer responded by shooting the driver, who was then given medical attention at the scene and later airlifted to a Des Moines hospital, where he remains in critical condition.
The Leon officer, whose name has not been released, has been placed on paid administrative leave, according to the DCI. The identity of the driver is also being withheld.
Additional information “will be released as appropriate,” according to the DCI statement. Leon is located in Decatur County in south-central Iowa. The population was 1,977 at the 2010 census.
