The Iowa Attorney General’s Office has ruled that a Des Moines County sheriff’s deputy was legally justified in the fatal shooting of David Leonard Maupin during a domestic disturbance on August 5.
The decision, announced Monday, follows an investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
Deputies were called at 9:09 p.m. to a rural Burlington home after a woman reported that her boyfriend, Maupin, was intoxicated, destroying property, and had displayed a shotgun in front of her and her 3-year-old child.
Deputy Brett Haubrich responded and found Maupin in a detached garage. Investigators said Maupin threatened to shoot the deputy, retreated inside, and then reemerged with a rifle. Maupin ordered Haubrich to leave, advanced toward him, and ignored repeated commands to drop the weapon. When Maupin allegedly raised the rifle toward the deputy, Haubrich fired, killing him.
A fully loaded Ruger .22 caliber rifle with a round in the chamber was recovered at the scene, along with two other rifles, two shotguns, and numerous beer cans. An autopsy determined Maupin’s blood-alcohol concentration was .30, more than three times the legal limit.
The Attorney General’s Office said Haubrich acted lawfully in response to an immediate and life-threatening danger.