DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI-TV] — The Iowa Attorney General’s Office says law enforcement officers were legally justified when they returned fire at a fugitive from Wisconsin during an incident on Interstate 80 last month. The AG’s Office Thursday evening released a 13-page report on the determination. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation reviewed body camera footage, car cameras, drone footage and other evidence to reach this conclusion. https://www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov/newsroom/iowa-attorney-generals-office-concludes-dallas-county-deputies-adair-county-deputy-adel-police-of

Around 1:30 a.m. on April 15, Vonderrick Rayford, of Milwaukee, was stopped by Dallas County Deputy Jacob Spurrell on Interstate 80 in Dallas County for excessive speeding. According to the attorney general’s report, Spurrell was sitting in his patrol vehicle running Rayford’s information when Rayford got out of his vehicle and began firing at the deputy. The report says Rayford also fired at the several other law enforcement officers who responded to Spurrell’s notice of shots fired.

After several other officers arrived, Rayford fled across the highway median and eventually stood in the westbound lanes with his hands up and the gun on the ground at his feet. Despite multiple commands to back away from the weapon, Rayford remained near it. When officers approached within a few feet, Rayford picked up the gun and raised it at them, at which point deputies Spurrell, Eric Grimm, and Tyler DeFrancisco, along with Adel police officer Joel Gummert, fired their weapons, ultimately fatally wounding Rayford. Rayford died at the scene.

“The actions of all law enforcement officers who fired their weapons at Vonderrick Rayford on April 15, 2025, were legally justified,” the Iowa Attorney General’s Office found. “Rayford escalated a routine traffic stop into a deadly shooting that endangered the lives of multiple law enforcement officers and all other persons who were using the interstate that night.”

In the days following the shooting, law enforcement learned that Rayford had a warrant out for a parole violation in Wisconsin and just two days prior had been involved in a shooting in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he allegedly shot a woman in the head and fired at an officer. The vehicle Rayford was driving was determined to have been stolen out of Colorado. Rayford also had prior felony convictions, including assault on a peace officer.

The officers involved in the incident, who have been cleared of any wrongdoing, include:

Dallas County Sheriff’s Office

• Deputy Jacob Spurrell
• Deputy Eric Grimm
• Deputy Drew Hurley

Adel Police Department

• Officer Joel Gummert

Stuart Police Department

• Officer Shane Martinson

Adair County Sheriff’s Office

• Deputy Tyler DeFrancisco