VIDEO: Video Fatal Montana OIS Ruled Justified
After hearing a day and a half of testimony, a coroner’s jury found Wednesday that Billings Police Officer Dave Punt was justified when he shot and killed Daniel Brawley earlier this year, the Billings Gazette reports.
The verdict marked the conclusion of a two-day inquest presided over by Big Horn County Coroner Terry Bullis. The Yellowstone County Attorney’s Office presented 15 witnesses.
Punt shot and killed Brawley, 29, on Jan. 6. Brawley had been taken into custody following an hours-long standoff with police at a house in the 800 block of Miles Avenue and had been placed handcuffed into the back of Punt’s patrol car.
The incident appeared to be over when Brawley, unnoticed, freed one of his hands, climbed through a Plexiglas partition and into the driver's seat of the running patrol car before attempting to drive away and hitting Punt in the process.