Before shootout, only 1 violent episode

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Before Bud Rowley was gunned down in a shootout with police officers early Saturday morning along a highway in Belding, there was only one violent incident on his record.

That was 30 years ago when he shot and killed his brother Scott after Scott ran down his own wife with a pickup truck.

On Dec. 31, 1982, court records show, Bud Rowley's brother, Scott, revved his pickup truck and ran it into Scott's wife, Gloria, outside Bud's home in rural Kent County.

Bud told investigators at the time that he saw it happen. After seeing Gloria badly injured and laying on the ground, he turned and fired a shot at Scott's pickup truck.

He said he didn't try to shoot Scott, but rather that he "just shot."

Scott Rowley died. Gloria Rowley suffered two broken legs and a broken pelvis. Bud's lawyer at that time argued he acted in a lawful defense of his sister-in-law.

Originally, Bud Rowley was charged with second-degree murder but eventually pleaded guilty to reckless use of a firearm and was fined $500.

Between that time and early Saturday, the only thing on Bud Rowley's record was a traffic ticket.