Sioux City, Iowa — The Woodbury County attorney has cleared the deputy involved in the January 12th shooting that claimed the life of a man in Sergeant Bluff.
Attorney Patrick Jennings says Deputy Eric Fay was justified when he fired his gun at Michael Meredith who came at the deputy and hit him with a tire iron.
Fay along with deputy Devin Groenhagen and Sergeant Bluff officer Jereme Muller had responded to a disturbance at a trailer where a man and woman were shouting. Groenhagen had backed away and fired his taser while Fay fired his gun. Jennings says an autopsy showed Meredith died from a single shot to the chest. The taser strike did not contribute to his death. Jennings ruled based on evidence from an investigation by the Iowa DCI and body camera footage from the three officers that Fay was justified in using deadly force to defend himself. Woodbury County Sheriff Todd Sheehan says an internal investigation of the shooting found no department policies were violated.
Sheehan says Fay has 12 years of law enforcement experience.
Sheehan released body camera video of the incident from the three officers who responded. Here is sound from the video of the shooting.
