Belding officer cleared in shootout

BELDING, Mich. (WOOD) - A Belding police officer's fatal shooting of Bernard "Bud" Rowley was ruled justified, according to the Ionia County prosecutor's report.

The shooting happened Jan. 5 when Rowley shot out the window of a parked vehicle behind the Belding police station.

Belding officer Jason Cooper ran outside and followed Rowley's van as it pulled away. At one point, Rowley stopped and got out of his van with a shotgun. After a state trooper joined the car chase, Rowley stopped and got out of his vehicle again with his shotgun while both police cars backed away. According to the report, Rowley approached the officers and fired the gun after a Michigan State Police trooper ordered him to drop the weapon. At that point, Cooper then shot Rowley.

Investigators later learned from family members that Rowley threatened to kill himself in the past. Family members said Rowley, 55, was normally depressed during that time of year due to the death of his wife in a car crash 10 years earlier. They added that Rowley had shot and killed his brother after his brother killed Rowley's sister-in-law with a truck in 1982.

According to investigators, Rowley signed over the title on two vehicles and a motorcycle to his girlfriend the day before he died.

The prosecutor said the only way the police officer could protect himself and the state trooper was to use deadly force after Rowley refused to drop the gun and fired at the trooper.