North Liberty Police Officers Cleared of Wrongdoing in Taleb Salemeh Slaying at Holiday Lodge Road Trailer Court

Johnson County District Attorney Janet Lyness held a press conference this afternoon announcing that the three North Liberty Police Officers involved in the fatal shooting of a man at 238 Holiday Lodge Road in North Liberty on March 10 would not be charged with a crime for the incident.

According to Vanessa Miller of the Gazette, Lyness said that the officers acted "with reasonable force" in the shooting of Taleb Hussein Yousef Salameh, a 28-year-old University of Iowa student at a residence in Holiday Mobile Home Court, and that they only escaped life-threatening injuries through the use of bulletproof vest. 

Here'a an account of the incident from the City of North Liberty:

On March 10, Sergeant Adam Olson, Officer Chris Shine and Officer Cody Jacobsen of the North Liberty Police Department responded to 238 Holiday Lodge Road on the report of a domestic disturbance. Within a minute of arrival, Taleb Salameh, 28, shot at the officers through a closed door. Officers then exchanged gunfire with Salameh. Salameh died at the scene. The officers were struck by rounds fired by Salameh and transported to the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics. Two officers received injuries and were treated and released. We are very fortunate that three officers were not killed or severely injured.

The shooting at North Liberty's Holiday Mobile Home Court led to the investigation of the officers by the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation. The officers were placed on paid leave during the course of the investigation, and will now be reinstated as is standard procedure.

The Iowa City Police Blotter from the day of the incident indicated that prior to the arrival of officers, Salameh had been arguing with a woman, later identified as the mother of his child, about the location of their daughter. A neighbor reported that Salameh had been jumping on the hood of a woman's car and arguing before the woman fled from the mobile home court.

More Details from the City of North Liberty

This was a tragic and unfortunate event resulting in a death, and our condolences go out to the families and loved ones of all involved. The North Liberty Police Department will be conducting an internal, additional review of this event and a review our department policies, procedures, training and equipment. We want to ensure we have in place the best practices.

This was an isolated incident in North Liberty, and we are committed to public safety and wellbeing. North Liberty Police will continue policing and provide public service.

All three officers are valuable members of the North Liberty Police Department. Sergeant Adam Olson, 34, joined the department in 2003 and had previous law enforcement experience. He graduated from the Iowa Law Enforcement academy in 2001. After five years of service with North Liberty, Olson was promoted to sergeant. Sergeant Olson currently is a first-line supervisor for five full-time officers, and the department’s training coordinator. He is also a certified ILEA instructor in defensive tactics and ASP baton. Sergeant Olson is currently a field training officer for the department.

Officer Chris Shine, 26, started with the department in 2010 and had previous law enforcement experience. He graduated from the police academy in 2008. Officer Shine is a member of the Iowa Law Enforcement Network and has advanced training in the detection of narcotics. Officer Shine is an evidence technician and field training officer for the department.

Officer Cody Jacobsen, 26, joined the department in January 2012 and attended the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy. Officer Jacobsen is the department’s CPR instructor, a standardized field sobriety test instructor and currently a paramedic in Johnson County.

We wish to thank all the agencies involved in the investigation, especially Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Iowa City Police Department. We also want to thank the community of which we are a part for its support of the department.   

Questions Arose about Salameh's Gun Permit

The shooting of Salameh also spurred some finger pointing, after reports surfaced showing that the University of Iowa had expressed concerns to the Johnson County Sheriff's Office about Salameh's request for a gun permit in early 2010. 

However, an Iowa City psychologist treating Salameh later wrote the sheriff in support of his application, according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen.

An Iowa City psychologist wrote a letter in 2010 to Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek supporting Taleb Salameh’s efforts to obtain a gun. Salameh, 28, was killed Sunday in North Liberty in an apparent shootout with police.

“Mr. Salameh is not showing any indications of impulse-control or substance-abuse problems,” Gregory Gullickson wrote June 22, 2010. “He has reported feeling in a significantly improved mood for several months now, and I can see no reason that he not be allowed to obtain a permit to own firearms.”

Pulkrabek told Jason Clayworth of the Des Moines Register that the incident was an example of the limitated options sheriffs currently have to deny gun permits under Iowa's shall carry law.

That’s because Iowa lawmakers eliminated virtually all discretion previously granted to sheriffs in issuing carry permits.

Online court records show Salameh was arrested several times for various offenses, including disorderly conduct, public intoxication and  driving drunk.

Pulkrabek defends his earlier decisions to approve Salameh for permits to acquire guns because Pulkrabek said he believes the right to have a gun to protect one’s home is constitutionally protected. However, he believes the right to carry a weapon in public should come with much stronger safeguards.

Meanwhile, University of Iowa President Sally Mason completed a week of duelling document releases given up quite willingly by both the Sheriff's Office and University to media by defending the University of Iowa's role in the issuance of gun permits, and the sharing of student information with the sheriff, which has come under fire recenty.

In response to the Sunday evening death of University of Iowa mechanical engineering graduate student Taleb Salameh, UI President Sally Mason defended the university’s right in having a say in the issuing of gun permits to students.

“I think there is potentially a place for us to be able to share information that we might have that would be helpful to the sheriff,” Mason told The Daily Iowan on Thursday. “Again, we are going to wait and see what the Department of Education says with regard to what that information should be, if any. We are very much in favor of being able to cooperate with local law enforcement anytime we can be helpful and useful.”

Salameh Remembered

Quentin Misiag of the Daily Iowan reported that mourning family members of Salameh painted a different picture of the one given by the firefight with police.

According to his obituary, family members said Salameh was a passionate and active young man.

“Taleb was a man who loved life, believed with strong conviction on much in this world, and acted with passion in his beliefs,” the obituary said. “… He was extremely gifted with knowledge and was like a sponge soaking up more and more. It would be hard to find someone that was more animated as an activist about civil and human rights. He could figure out, fix it, and move on to the next challenge with anything mechanical. But most of all, he was a man that loved his family, believed in his family, and was there for anyone of them anytime.”

The Gazette also reported on some of the outpouring of grief from family members following Salameh's death.

Salameh's sister mourns 'theft of his life'

Aisha Salameh, who says she’s Salameh’s sister, wrote on her Facebook page on Wednesday about the heartbreak of losing her “best friend.”

“The shock of his passing has been the hardest thing my family and I have ever suffered,” she said.

Aisha Salameh wrote that anyone who knew her, also knew her brother.

“He has always been by my side, my friend, my protector, my constant,” she wrote. “He is a great loving man, brother, friend and father … He would do anything for what he believed and for the people he loved.”

She thanked friends for helping the family celebrate Salameh’s life and for sharing stories about “his amazing character and integrity.