Randall Comly Gets 40 Years for Shooting at Cops

Randall Lee Comly, 53, of Stuart, Iowa, is going away for 40 years — and he earned every second. A federal judge in Des Moines handed down the sentence on August 20, 2020, after Comly pleaded guilty to attempting to murder four law enforcement officers, possessing meth with intent to distribute, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The ambush was not impulsive — it was a calculated act by a career criminal who chose bullets over surrender.

The attack unfolded on the night of October 17, 2019, when officers from the Stuart Police Department and Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office arrived at Comly’s apartment to serve valid arrest warrants for second-degree arson and a probation violation. What they found wasn’t a compliant suspect — it was a trap. Comly, already a three-time convicted drug trafficker, burst from a closet and opened fire, unloading six rounds at point-blank range at a deputy standing mere feet away.

Two sheriff’s deputies were shot in the hail of gunfire. One nearly died. Comly didn’t stop there — he barricaded himself inside the apartment, forcing authorities to deploy a hostage negotiation team. The standoff dragged into the night. But by minutes before midnight, the bloodshed ended. Comly gave himself up. Inside the apartment, investigators found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, confirming what they already knew: this was a violent drug operation gone terminal.

Comly’s criminal record reads like a federal indictment catalog. Multiple felony drug convictions. Active probation at the time of the shooting. The court designated him an armed career criminal — a label reserved for the most dangerous repeat offenders. That status triggered mandatory minimums and ensured the maximum consequences under federal law.

U.S. Attorney Marc Krickbaum didn’t mince words: ‘Randall Comly tried to murder those officers. He tried to take husbands away from their wives, and fathers away from their children so that he could escape justice.’ Krickbaum emphasized that the sentence was not just punishment — it was protection. ‘Justice was delivered today in federal court, and we are grateful.’

The ATF, which led the investigation, called the ambush a textbook case of violent firearms crime. Special Agent in Charge Marino Vidoli stated, ‘Today’s sentencing ensures that he will be held accountable for his dangerous actions and prevented from engaging in further violence.’ The probe was supported by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Adair County Sheriff’s Office, Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office, and Stuart Police Department. Prosecution was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa, with assistance from the Adair County Attorney’s Office.