Judge dismisses lawsuit over fatal shooting of man by deputy

MARQUETTE, Mich. (AP) — A judge has ruled in favor of an Upper Peninsula police officer and dismissed a lawsuit over the fatal shooting of a man who had threatened to kill himself.

Marquette County sheriff’s deputy Keith Romback said he went to Clifford Tucker’s home in Ishpeming Township in 2016 because the former logger was despondent over chronic pain and threatening to end his life.

Romback told Tucker he was there to help him. The deputy followed Tucker to a bedroom where the 68-year-old veteran picked up a shotgun.
Romback shot Tucker because he believed he was a threat to the officer.

The deputy “reasonably concluded that Tucker posed a credible threat of serious harm,” U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney said on Aug. 28. “Therefore, the decision to use deadly force was reasonable in the tense circumstances of the moment.”