After an internal review of the Nov. 4 fatal shooting on campus, the Ames Police Department will not make any immediate changes to neither the pursuit policy nor use of force policies.

“We’re reviewing all our policies which we do from time to time. At this point we haven’t made any changes, but that doesn’t mean we won’t in the future,” said Geoff Huff, investigations commander for Ames Police.

Officer Adam McPherson, who has been on the Ames Police force for nine years, returned to duty at the beginning of January after being placed on paid administrative leave for almost two months.

McPherson was involved in the fatal car chase and shooting when a Boone man drove a stolen truck onto the ISU campus. Tyler Comstock, 19, was reported by his father for stealing his father’s truck and attached trailer. Comstock drove the truck down Lincoln Way and up Beach Avenue while closely pursued by police. At one point during the chase, Comstock backed the trailer on top of a police car.

Comstock was then chased onto Central Campus where he continued to try to elude police until McPherson fired seven shots in an attempt to stop Comstock. Comstock died of a gunshot to the head and chest, according to an autopsy by the state medical examiner.

During an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation review of the shooting, McPherson went on administrative leave. Story County Attorney Stephen Holmes declared McPherson acted “reasonably under very difficult circumstances” a few days after the incident.

Since that time, Ames Police undertook an internal review of policies, which is standard procedure after any use of force. Huff said Ames Police held follow-up interviews to collect names of people who saw the incident, reviewed the dash camera video and reviewed Iowa Code policies during the two months between the incident and when McPherson returned to duty.

“As far as changes for us, we didn’t find any policy violations. That’s why he’s back to work,” Huff said about McPherson.

In spite of threats to police and McPherson, and scrutiny by both Comstock’s family and various members of the public, Huff said the incident was traumatic for McPherson as well.

“That’s the one decision that no officer wants to have to make,” Huff said. “They went through a lot afterwards, too. Psychologically, it’s a tough thing to have to do.”

As for whether McPherson could have handled the incident differently, Huff said McPherson’s actions were the only possible set of actions. Huff said McPherson could not have taken such actions as shooting out the tires of the truck or firing elsewhere in order to subdue Comstock.

“Warning shots are illegal by Iowa Code. We have to account for the round. If I’m firing a round in the air or into the ground, you don’t know exactly where that round’s going to go,” Huff said. “We’re making split-second decisions that people with a lot of time on their hands can think about over and over again. We don’t have that opportunity.”

Huff said Stop Stick, a tire deflation device, would not have worked to stop Comstock either because they do not deploy on grass.

“We heard people say, ‘well, they could have done this. They could have done that.’ We can’t do either one of those,” Huff said.

McPherson was medically cleared to return to duty after professional counseling.

Part of that review process is making sure they’re back to the point where it’s not going to affect their judgment. They’re going to be able to make the right call under a stressful situation,” Huff said.

Comstock’s family has up to two years to file a lawsuit regarding the shooting. Huff said McPherson was not available for comment because Ames Police attorneys advise them not to discuss the case.

“We’re in the position where we don’t get to talk but anybody else can,” Huff said.