Brett Lynn Pace

Deadly force

Members of a narcotics task force went to Brett Lynn Pace's rural farmhouse at about 6:15 a.m. to execute a search warrant for drugs and guns. Pace was unarmed and watching TV with a friend when police used a ramming device to break through the kitchen door and rolled an explosive device onto the floor. Pace's friend said three officers in black outfits and ski masks with weapons drawn yelled, "Go, go, go," and ran inside. Pace, clad in only a Budweiser T-shirt, got up and went toward the kitchen with his arms extended outward. Officer Tim Fullmer shot Pace twice with a rifle when Pace entered the kitchen. James David Vierkandt, who was working as an informant for officer Chris Leber, had allegedly stole a Glock-40 handgun from Leber's unmarked other two days before the raid. The gun was recovered at the farmhouse after Pace's death. Pace's family attorney Brian Beattie contended the officers erred in approaching Pace in SWAT gear. "This was all about revenge over a stolen Council Bluffs police officer's gun," Beattie said. "They went in there with full riot gear because they were mad and embarrassed that this guy had their gun."