Iowa Attorney General’s Office Concludes Officer Acted with Legal Justification in Dubuque County Shooting

DES MOINES—In a report issued today, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office has concluded that the January 4, 2026, fatal shooting of Jai Ondrick Quin-Charles Lovely by Dubuque Police Officer Austin Manders was legally justified. 

In the early morning hours of January 4, 2026, Officer Austin Manders of the Dubuque Police Department was on routine patrol on Locust Street in Dubuque, Iowa. As he approached the area of Odd Fellows Bar, he observed a group of men fighting in the street. Officer Manders stopped immediately and got out of his patrol car. As he exited the driver’s side of his patrol vehicle, several people in the fight were fleeing, leaving two men in the street facing each other. Before Officer Manders could get the door of his vehicle shut, one of the men shot the other and the victim fell instantly fell to the ground. Officer Manders drew his firearm and fired at the shooter, who was later identified as Jai Ondrick Quin-Charles Lovely. Lovely then retreated into the bar. 

When additional officers arrived, they pulled the shooting victim, identified as Cory Michael Wilson, to safety and began lifesaving measures. Once the majority of people were evacuated from the bar, officers made their way into the back door and located Lovely unconscious with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. They extracted him from the bar and took him to an area where they could provide medical attention. Both Lovely and Wilson were taken by ambulance to local hospitals and died from their injuries. No bystanders were injured during the incident, nor was the officer. 

The recovered weapon used by Lovely was a .45 caliber handgun that was registered in his name. The shell casings from the shots fired by Lovely were recovered at the scene.  Both the casings and the bullet recovered from Wilson at autopsy were .45 caliber.  

The report is issued under the Attorney General’s independent authority under Iowa Code section 13.12 to investigate or prosecute conduct of law enforcement that results in death. 

A copy of the report is available here. 

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For More Information:

Jen Green 

jen.green@ag.iowa.gov