Officer-Involved Shooting In St. Pete ‘Justified': Police Review Board

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - A Command Review Board determined Monday that an officer-involved shooting that happened earlier this year was “justified,” according to a St. Petersburg Police Department news release.

The agency’s Office of Professional Standards has been investigating whether K9 Officer Stephen York violated any department policies or city rules and regulations in the Sept. 12 shooting.

The board found that “no policies were violated,” SPPD said.

Just after 3 a.m. on Sept. 12, St. Petersburg police officers responded to reports of an armed person at a home on 20th Avenue N.

• Also Read: Officer-Involved Shooting Investigated In St. Pete: Pinellas Sheriff

Jill Kiley, 53, called St. Pete police to report that her 31-year-old son, Cody Kiley, found her gun and was threatening her with it, Chief Deputy Paul Halle with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said during a news conference at the scene.

She took the suspect’s 4-year-old daughter — who is also her granddaughter — into a back bathroom and remained on the phone with police, providing updates about the situation until they arrived four minutes later, Halle said.

By the time they got to the home, officers could hear Cody Kiley in the backyard. As they moved into the yard, K9 Officer Stephen York released his K9 partner, Loki, who confronted the armed suspect, the chief deputy said.

Kiley refused to drop the gun and continued to threaten those at the scene after York pulled Loki off him, according to Halle.

York “fired a number of shots” at the suspect, who was killed, Halle added.

Last month, the Pinellas County Use of Deadly Force Investigative Task Force investigated the shooting and determined that York’s actions that day “were lawful under the circumstances,” according to the SPPD news release. “A separate and independent investigation conducted by the Sixth Judicial Circuit Office of the State Attorney also determined that the officer lawfully shot and killed Cody Kiley while in the lawful performance of his duties.”