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Iowa DPS: Deputy shoots and kills armed man in Tama County

The unnamed deputy fired a single shot after witnessing a man with a handgun. The man was pronounced dead at a Cedar Rapids hospital.

CHELSEA, Iowa — A Tama County sheriff's deputy shot and killed a man displaying a handgun Thursday night after responding to reports about shots being fired, the Iowa Department of Public Safety said in a release.

Authorities got the calls just before 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Several law enforcement agencies responded to the scene at 1001 Station Street in Chelsea, which is about 45 miles west of Cedar Rapids.

DPS says law enforcement then located 28-year-old Dewey Wilfong III walking around with a handgun. The unnamed deputy fired a single shot at Wilfong, hitting him in the upper chest.

Wilfong was taken to a Cedar Rapids hospital, where he was pronounced dead.  

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation was called in to conduct an independent investigation into the shooting, and the deputy was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of that investigation. 

The name of the deputy has not been released, and the state's medical examiner will conduct an autopsy.   

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