71-Year-Old Iowa Man Shot To Death During Public Meeting At Courthouse, Angry Over Property Tax [Breaking]

A 71-year-old Iowa man was shot to death in Maquoketa, Iowa, during a public meeting at the town courthouse when he pulled a gun on the county assessor.

According to ABC News, Maquoketa is a small town that is just 150 miles northeast of Des Moines. The report states that Francis Glaser, the 71-year-old man, became increasingly agitated at the meeting and was very vocal about his disdain for the increase in property tax. Jackson County Sheriff Russ Kettmann said that Glaser was obviously upset over the property tax increase. As the meeting ended in the local courthouse, Glaser pulled a gun and fired at the county assessor but missed. One of the county’s three supervisors, Larry Koos, was nearby and stepped in. He struggled with Glaser, and a second shot was fired. Glaser was hit and died at the scene, Kettmann said.

Chron reports that Koos was injured during the struggle when his arm crashed through a glass door. Kettmann notes that Koos “probably saved a life.”

This isn’t the first time a courthouse has been the scene of a shooting. Earlier this year, a defendant was killed by an U.S. Marshal while attacking a witness with a pen. Sheriff Eugene Crum was also shot in front of a courthouse as he was eating his lunch.

More information will be provided on this story as it becomes available.

UPDATE: According to KWWL, Glaser was a former Maquoketa City Manager.

Also, Glaser apparently did not have a permit to carry or purchase a handgun, according to Kettmann. Weapons are not permitted inside the Jackson County Courthouse, but there is no metal detector. County officials apparently have access to a metal-detecting wand, but it is used sparingly in “high-profile cases” and was not used on Glaser, according to Kettmann.