Des Moines police shoot, kill fleeing suspect after 2 officers shot, injured

Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Two police officers in Iowa have been hospitalized after being shot early Monday morning in an incident in which a fleeing suspect was shot and killed by officers, officials say.

Initial reports say the incident in Des Moines, Iowa's capital, began at about 1:40 a.m. local time near the 2500 block of Easton Boulevard when police attempted to stop a vehicle for an "equipment violation." Police said the driver refused to stop.

A chase then ensued, which temporarily stopped in a parking lot before the suspect then sped away from law enforcement in a 2005 blue Ford Focus, finally ending when the suspected driver turned north on E. 24th Street from Easton Boulevard, left the roadway and then crashed, according to Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek.

Officers blocked the vehicle and gave instructions to the suspect to turn off and exit his car. He was then shot and killed after police said he failed to comply and opened fire on officers with a handgun, law enforcement officials said.

The suspect was identified as a 37-year-old male.

The two injured Des Moines police officers, who both have been with the department since 2022, are expected to survive. It is the second time so far this year that a police officer in Des Moines had been injured by gunfire.

A neighbor who awoke at the time of the incident said he "heard a sound that went like, 'pop, pop, pop, pop'" and that the occurrence was not common.

"It's strange for this neighborhood," Larry Miller, 78, of Des Moines told the Des Moines Register.

The incident is still being investigated by local police with a request to join by the Division of Criminal Investigation of Iowa's Department of Public Safety.