DES MOINES, IA - Authorities have confirmed that two Des Moines police officers are recovering in the hospital after being wounded during an exchange of gunfire with an armed suspect on the east side of Des Moines in the early morning hours on Monday, September 16th.
So far, the suspect has only been identified as a 37-year-old male.
According to KCCI, officers attempted to stop a vehicle around 1:40 a.m. near the 2500 block of Easton Boulevard. The driver of the vehicle did not stop and so the officers pursued the vehicle. A preliminary investigation found that the suspect was stopped for an equipment violation. He stopped in a parking lot before speeding away from officers.
During the pursuit, the suspect driving the vehicle crashed at E.24th Street and Easton Boulevard. At a news conference, Sgt. Paul Parizek said that once the car crashed, the driver refused to comply with instructions to surrender to the officers on scene.
Officers then deployed a Taser in an attempt to subdue the driver, which was unsuccessful and the man then "violently struggled" with the four officers that were on scene. The driver, who has been identified as a 37-year-old male, started to fire a gun at the officers. Sgt. Parizek said, "At one point [he] was on the ground outside the car, kicking up — that's when he pulled the handgun and started firing."
Three officers returned fire, fatally wounding the armed suspect, who Parizek believes is from Carlisle. Per departmental policy, those three officers have been placed on administrative leave while the incident remains under investigation. Authorities have not said how many shots were fired, but evidence from the scene indicates that there were about two dozen casings.
Sgt. Parizek said, "You're taking care of that threat. You're going to keep shooting until that threat's taken care of." One officer was struck in the head and the other in the arm. Both officers are being treated at local hospitals for injuries that are considered non-life threatening.
The officer that was struck in the head underwent surgery and was in critical condition, but is stable. Sgt. Parizek said, "One of them is not able to talk to us. He's going to have some, pretty extensive care ongoing right now. The second one has been able to talk to his friends and speak with the chief."
He added, "All in all, we're very, very fortunate. When you look at a close-quarters shooting like that, plus an officer being struck in the head, we could be telling a very, very different story right now if the circumstances were a millimeter different."
He said that officers are well aware that any interaction can turn violent, adding:
"It's definitely something you're aware of when you sign on. We know what the risks are, but as you look around the country right now there's a cop being shot about every 22 hours. That's definitely something we take note of. We understand the risks. We do everything we can to keep ourselves safe, but our job is to stand between you and danger like what we saw here earlier."
Both of the officers who were shot by the armed suspect joined the department in 2022. Des Moines police and the Iowa Department of Public Safety are investigating the incident.
This is the second time this year that Des Moines officers have been injured by gunfire. An officer was hospitalized in July after being struck by friendly fire while investigating a non-contact order violation. The shooting on Monday, September 16th, comes at the conclusion of a deadly weekend in Des Moines. Two individuals were killed and a third was injured during a shooting near Court Avenue on Sunday, September 15th.
In an unrelated incident, a third person died after crashing his vehicle near Second and University Avenues. Police believe he was shot earlier in the morning at a nearby gas station.
So far, the suspect has only been identified as a 37-year-old male.
According to KCCI, officers attempted to stop a vehicle around 1:40 a.m. near the 2500 block of Easton Boulevard. The driver of the vehicle did not stop and so the officers pursued the vehicle. A preliminary investigation found that the suspect was stopped for an equipment violation. He stopped in a parking lot before speeding away from officers.
During the pursuit, the suspect driving the vehicle crashed at E.24th Street and Easton Boulevard. At a news conference, Sgt. Paul Parizek said that once the car crashed, the driver refused to comply with instructions to surrender to the officers on scene.
Officers then deployed a Taser in an attempt to subdue the driver, which was unsuccessful and the man then "violently struggled" with the four officers that were on scene. The driver, who has been identified as a 37-year-old male, started to fire a gun at the officers. Sgt. Parizek said, "At one point [he] was on the ground outside the car, kicking up — that's when he pulled the handgun and started firing."
Three officers returned fire, fatally wounding the armed suspect, who Parizek believes is from Carlisle. Per departmental policy, those three officers have been placed on administrative leave while the incident remains under investigation. Authorities have not said how many shots were fired, but evidence from the scene indicates that there were about two dozen casings.
Sgt. Parizek said, "You're taking care of that threat. You're going to keep shooting until that threat's taken care of." One officer was struck in the head and the other in the arm. Both officers are being treated at local hospitals for injuries that are considered non-life threatening.
The officer that was struck in the head underwent surgery and was in critical condition, but is stable. Sgt. Parizek said, "One of them is not able to talk to us. He's going to have some, pretty extensive care ongoing right now. The second one has been able to talk to his friends and speak with the chief."
He added, "All in all, we're very, very fortunate. When you look at a close-quarters shooting like that, plus an officer being struck in the head, we could be telling a very, very different story right now if the circumstances were a millimeter different."
He said that officers are well aware that any interaction can turn violent, adding:
"It's definitely something you're aware of when you sign on. We know what the risks are, but as you look around the country right now there's a cop being shot about every 22 hours. That's definitely something we take note of. We understand the risks. We do everything we can to keep ourselves safe, but our job is to stand between you and danger like what we saw here earlier."
Both of the officers who were shot by the armed suspect joined the department in 2022. Des Moines police and the Iowa Department of Public Safety are investigating the incident.
This is the second time this year that Des Moines officers have been injured by gunfire. An officer was hospitalized in July after being struck by friendly fire while investigating a non-contact order violation. The shooting on Monday, September 16th, comes at the conclusion of a deadly weekend in Des Moines. Two individuals were killed and a third was injured during a shooting near Court Avenue on Sunday, September 15th.
In an unrelated incident, a third person died after crashing his vehicle near Second and University Avenues. Police believe he was shot earlier in the morning at a nearby gas station.
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