Iowa man killed after using truck to ram 2 police vehicles at casino, authorities say

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A man whose truck rammed two police vehicles and then used a chain to swing a metal object at officers was shot to death by police outside of an Iowa casino, state authorities said.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation identified the man killed as 55-year-old Salvador Perez-Garcia of Sioux City, Iowa. Names of the officers were not released. Both are on leave pending an investigation by the sate agency.

The DCI said a Sioux City officer was parked inside a parking garage at the Hard Rock Casino around 4 a.m. Monday when a white truck drove at the patrol vehicle and rammed it head-on.

The truck was met by responding officers as it exited the garage and rammed a second patrol vehicle head-on, the DCI said in a news release. Perez-Garcia emerged from the truck “swinging a length of chain with an affixed metal object in an aggressive, threatening manner,” the agency said.

Officers tried to de-escalate the encounter and sought to take away the weapon, but couldn’t, the DCI said. When Perez-Garcia continued to approach the officers swinging the object, they shot him, the DCI said.

Perez-Garcia died at the scene.

One officer was treated for injuries sustained when his patrol vehicle was struck by the truck, Sioux City Police Chief Rex Mueller told the Sioux City Journal.