Iowa Supreme Court Revives Wrongful Death Suit Over 2021 Waterloo Police Shooting

On November 16, 2021, Waterloo Police Officer Kenneth Schaaf shot and killed Brent Boggess following an early-morning chase through Waterloo neighborhoods. The pursuit began after an officer reported that Boggess had tried to strike him with his Chevrolet Silverado pickup. Officers eventually cornered Boggess in an alley and tried to speak with him through his open driver's side window. Boggess then accelerated forward, reaching a top speed of about 8 mph before crashing into an occupied police cruiser. After the impact, Schaaf fired six rounds at Boggess in rapid succession, killing him.

The Black Hawk County Attorney cleared Schaaf of criminal wrongdoing, concluding the shooting was justified by what he characterized as Boggess's reckless and evasive actions. The Boggess family saw the events differently, and attorneys for the estate released body and dash camera footage in late 2022 as they pressed a civil case.

Lisa Boggess, as administrator of her husband's estate, sued Officer Schaaf and the City of Waterloo, alleging assault, battery, and wrongful use of deadly force under Iowa common law, along with a constitutional excessive-force claim under 42 U.S.C. section 1983. Connor N. Mulholland of Mueller, Schmidt, Mulholland and Cooling, PLLC was one of the appellate attorneys for the estate, working alongside David A. O'Brien of Dave O'Brien Law and Neven J. Mulholland of Johnson, Mulholland, Cochrane, Cochrane, Yung and Engler. Schaaf removed the case to federal court, where a judge found he was shielded by qualified immunity on the federal civil rights count and declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state claims, sending them back to Iowa district court. The district court then dismissed those remaining state claims on immunity grounds.

The estate appealed, and on May 1, 2026, the Iowa Supreme Court reversed. The court held that Iowa's immunity statute does not protect the City of Waterloo or Officer Schaaf from the common law tort claims, declining to overrule the precedents the estate relied on. The justices remanded the matter for further proceedings in district court on the assault, battery, and wrongful use of deadly force counts.

No verdict or settlement has been reached. The case returns to Iowa district court, where a factfinder will weigh whether Officer Schaaf's use of lethal force was legally justified.