HIAWATHA, Iowa (AP) - No charges will be filed in the death of a Hiawatha man who was shot during a gun battle last year, Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden said.
Joshua Lathrop died and three others were injured May 30 at the Sunset Village Mobile Home Park in Hiawatha.
Two brothers who were armed went to the trailer court after hearing that one of their girlfriends had been attacked. An intoxicated Lathrop confronted the brothers and several residents armed with bats and handguns joined the argument, KCRG-TV reported.
Lathrop prevented one of the brothers from leaving and eventually hit him, prompting a “frenzied gun battle” involving 25 shots, Vander Sanden said.
Vander Sanden said the investigation was plagued by conflicting witness statements, including an unclear picture of who shot first.
But he ruled “without question, that Joshua Lathrop was the catalyst of this violent encounter.”
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