Iowa DCI investigating officer-involved shooting in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS - Two police officers shot and injured a driver after a brief pursuit early Sunday when they say he accelerated toward them, but the man was later treated and freed without charges while the incident is being investigated.

A Cedar Rapids police spokesman did not release the names of the officers, the man or a female passenger who was hurt when the car crashed into a utility pole and also was treated and released from a hospital.

The officers were not injured. They were placed on paid administrative leave, which is routine while officer-involved shootings are investigated, said public safety spokesman Greg Buelow.

The incident began about 2 a.m. when Cedar Rapids officers say they saw an orange BMW driving recklessly and speeding in the 1000 block of A Avenue NE. Police said the BMW drove the wrong way down 12th Street NE, heading toward H Avenue.

When the officers - who were in uniform and in a marked squad car, according to Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Rick Rahn - caught up to the BMW in an alley between Center Point Road and Daniels Street NE, the car crashed into a pole, injuring the passenger.

Buelow said as the officers got out of their squad car, the BMW came toward them in a 'reckless manner.”

Two officers fired at the car. The driver, described only as a white male, was struck and sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Rahn said multiple shots were fired. Authorities did not disclose how many were fired, or how many struck the man and where.

A woman told KCRG-TV9's Chris Earl that she was nearby when it happened.

'I heard about 10 gunshots, and then cops yelling ‘get down!' and a female screaming and yelling,” said the woman, Sarah Perkins.

The driver and passenger were taken to a hospital, treated and released.

Rahn said he could not say whether it was unusual for the subjects to be let go, citing the investigation.

'I'm not going to be able to comment as to some of those questions, that one in particular,” Rahn said Sunday afternoon. 'Each case is different … every scenario is unique.”

He said that a charging decisions would be made after a 'thorough and complete” investigation.

As is standard protocol in an officer-involved shooting, the DCI is investigating.

Rahn said the officers involved have not yet been interviewed by the DCI, but will be in the coming days.