In the early hours of April 1, 2014, a confrontation in Maquoketa, Iowa, led to the death of 30-year-old Aaron Edward Scott. The incident began shortly before 3 a.m. when Maquoketa Police Sergeant Brendan Zeimet, a 13-year veteran of the force, stopped to investigate a pickup truck parked on the wrong side of the street with its lights off. As the officer approached the vehicle, the driver, later identified as Aaron Edward Scott of Wyoming, Iowa, exited the truck armed with a rifle and opened
fire on Sergeant Zeimet.
A shootout ensued between the two men, during which Sergeant Zeimet was struck in the arm. Scott was also hit in the leg. Following the exchange of gunfire, Scott fled the scene in his pickup truck. Other officers pursued him, but they lost sight of his vehicle near Elwood in Clinton County. The wound to Sergeant Zeimet was not life-threatening, and he was later reported to be in good condition.
Approximately thirty minutes after the initial shooting, law enforcement discovered Scott's overturned pickup truck along 150th Avenue, north of Highway 136 in Clinton County. Inside the vehicle, they found Aaron Edward Scott deceased. An autopsy was performed by Dr. Dennis Klein of the Iowa State Medical Examiner's Office, which determined that while Scott had sustained a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the leg from the officer's return fire, his death was ultimately the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Investigators later released dashcam footage from Sergeant Zeimet's patrol car that captured the intense exchange of gunfire. It was reported that Scott fired his SKS rifle at least 14 times. In addition to the SKS rifle, a. 308 deer rifle, a shotgun, and a handgun were also found in Scott's vehicle. All the firearms were legally owned. Following an investigation, Sergeant Zeimet was cleared of any wrongdoing in the incident.
