Two police officers in central Iowa were shot and killed Wednesday in a pair of “ambush-style attacks,” the Des Moines Police Department said.
Scott McFetridge/APDes Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek speaks during a news conference Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016, at Des Moines police headquarters. Authorities say two police officers in the area were shot to death in ambush-style attacks about three kilometres apart.
The first shooting occurred at 1:06 a.m. when an officer in Urbandale, Iowa, responded to a report of shots fired, Sgt. Paul Parizek, a spokesman for Des Moines police, told The Washington Post. The officer was shot while sitting alone in his patrol car and pronounced dead on the scene, Parizek said.
About 20 minutes later, Des Moines police officers responding to the shooting came across a patrol car at an intersection about three kilometres away, where they found another officer with a gunshot wound, according to Parizek. The officer, who was among those responding, was transported to the hospital, where he, too, was pronounced dead.
Police said that the shootings appeared to have been “ambush-style attacks.”
“They clearly were just seated in their cars when they were shot,” Parizek said. “The best they can tell from the scene there was no interaction between them and whoever did this.”
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Parizek said police had little information on a suspect, but had received a description of a pickup truck with a cap.
“There’s somebody out there shooting police officers. We hope to find him before somebody else gets hurt,” said the sergeant, who stopped briefly during a news conference as he worked to control his emotions.
The shootings follow a spate of police killings, including ambushes of officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, La. Five officers were killed in Dallas on July 7 and three were killed later that month in Baton Rouge.
There is a clear and present danger
Authorities in Iowa are developing suspect information but they have nothing that they are ready to share with the public, Parizek said. Officers are now conducting patrols in pairs for protection, he said.
“There is a clear and present danger to police officers,” Parizek said.
Parizek said he wouldn’t release more information about the shootings.
Urbandale Sgt. Chad Underwood said Urbandale officers are equipped with body cameras, but they don’t run constantly and it’s unclear whether there was video of the shootings.
Charlie Neibergall/APPolicemen block off the scene of the shooting of a fellow officer on Nov. 2, 2016, in Urbandale, Iowa. Two Des Moines police officers were shot dead in ambush-style attacks.
Urbandale is a suburb of about 40,000 people in the Des Moines metro area with about 50 officers. Officials in Urbandale cancelled school for the day.
Des Moines has about 375 officers.
Police are currently developing suspect information.
With files from The Associated Press