Tyler Comstock was a man on the mend said Nola Pitts, of Boone, who said she was like a sister to Comstock.

Comstock was killed Monday morning after leading police on a high-speed pursuit through Ames that ended on the grass of Central Campus where he was shot with two out of six bullets fired by Ames police officer Adam McPherson.

Pitts, who said she was “always kind of like [Comstock’s] ‘safe home,’” said Comstock’s death was even more unfortunate because he was getting his life back on track.

Pitts said Comstock had a “rough childhood.”

“There were a lot of drugs involved in his family and stuff like that so he wasn’t raised in a good family home, so of course it was like logical that he turned to drugs at a really young age. He had been doing drugs for a really long time.

“ He was getting his life on track. He was clean; he was going to [Narcotics Anonymous],” Pitts said, about “He was going to church, and he was working with his dad. He was doing really, really good, and this really, really sucks because he didn’t get a chance to prove to the world what he can actually do.”

After living with his girlfriend of five years, Comstock moved into a Boone homeless shelter in order to use it’s zero-tolerance policy on drug use as an incentive to stay clean, Pitts said. Pitts also said that Comstock disassociated himself with friends in the Boone community that he knew would enable bad habits.

“ He came to me and was like, ‘Nola, I don’t want to do this anymore.” And I was like, ‘you don’t have to. I don’t care what anybody else says; I don’t care if they don’t want to be your friend anymore. You don’t have to do this, and I will fight with you this whole way.’ So that’s what we’ve been doing,” Pitts said.

Comstock’s mother and father separated when he was young. According to legal documents the parties’ marriage had been “characterized by considerable turmoil.”

“I left his dad when he was five or six and I think that really impacted him. I carry a lot of guilt already,” Shari said about her son’s childhood.

Tyler was placed into his mother’s primary custody in 1999 when he was 5 years old, while James was granted liberal access to their son, according to court records. During the custody trials, each party accused the other of abusing alcohol and controlled substances, according to records.

“There were a lot of drugs involved in his family and stuff like that so of course it was like logical that he turned to drugs at a really young age,” Pitts said. “ He was doing really good. He was working with his dad every day, so I don’t understand why he would throw that big of a hissy fit over a pack of cigarettes.”

Pitts said that while Comstock lived with his father in Boone, their relationship went “on and off.” Pitts said that the two argued in the past, but were doing well recently, so she does not understand Monday’s events.

“I’m pretty sure all he was doing was either going to Boone to get cigarettes from somebody,” Pitts said about Monday’s car chase. “He wasn’t trying to go steal his dad’s car and do whatever. He was just probably like, ‘fuck you, I’m going to go cigarettes.’”

Like many of Comstock’s friends and family, Pitts is looking for answers as to why Comstock was shot by Officer McPherson. Pitts said that she is confused as to why police pursued Comstock after his truck was surrounded by police and “completely and utterly stuck” after his crash on Central Campus.

“The reason why the engine was still revving was because he was tryingm but he was completely and utterly stuck,” Pitts said. “ I know him very well, and I know damn well that over the revving engine and over the crying [he couldn’t hear.] When he gets scared, that’s what he does, he cries. I’m pretty sure it just spun out of craziness.”

Comstock’s mother said her son had a history of emotional distress and mental disorders. She said she had her son committed when he was 17 due to self-harming behaviors. Pitts said Comstock had been doing much better since he decided to make changes in his life.

“He does have temper issues. I wish he would have called me,” Pitts said. “This would not even have happened.”

Comstock’s father could not be reached for comment.

Reporter Seth Young contributed to this article.