Shootings kill 2 students at Des Moines youth nonprofit, one charged

Two students were killed just before 1 p.m. Monday in shootings at Starts Right Here, an educational mentorship program in downtown Des Moines that helps at-risk youth and has received high-profile support from state and city leaders.

Police spokesman Sgt. Paul Parizek said an adult employee of the nonprofit organization was injured and in serious condition. At the Des Moines City Council meeting Monday night, Mayor Frank Cownie said Starts Right Here founder Will Holmes was injured and is recovering in the hospital.

Parizek said the injured students, aged 16 and 18, were found in a very critical condition and officers resuscitated them. They were taken to a hospital, where they died.

Late Monday, police charged 18-year-old Des Moines resident Preston Walls with two counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and participation in criminal gangs.

Parizek said in a press release that Walls was allegedly armed with a 9mm handgun at Starts Right Here. Holmes was trying to escort him out of the building when Walls reportedly started shooting at the teens.

“Walls, and both deceased victims, are known gang members, belonging to opposing gangs, and there is evidence that these crimes were committed as a result of an ongoing gang dispute,” Parizek said in the release.

Based on a witness statement, police stopped a vehicle near MacRae Park, about 2 miles south of the shooting scene, at about 1:20 p.m. Walls allegedly fled and was followed by a K-9 officer to the 1300 block of River Vista Drive, while two other people remained in the car, Parizek said. All three were taken into custody.

The two others have been detained since Monday evening.

More:What people are saying about the Des Moines shooting that killed 2 college students

About 20 people gathered in the vestibule and lobby of MercyOne Des Moines on Monday afternoon.

A few confirmed to the Des Moines Register that they were friends or relatives of those killed in the shooting, but declined to comment further. They stood, paced, sat and talked as they waited for more news about their loved ones. Many of them were teenagers.

Several cars and police cars were parked in front of the entrance to the hospital. A crime scene was also seen exiting the parking lot.

Bystander: ‘Police cars are pouring in from everywhere’

The Starts Right Here program, 455 SW Fifth St., was founded by local rapper and activist Holmes, whose stage name is Will Keeps.

Nicole Krantz, a coder with MercyOne Des Moines Clinics Administration, said her office, next to Starts Right Here, was locked down immediately after the shooting. She said she saw someone run out of the building with police in pursuit, both on foot and in patrol cars.

“We just saw a lot of police cars pouring in from all over,” Krantz said.

“It’s terrifying. We are all concerned,” she said. “Of course we closed. We were all told to stay away from the windows because we weren’t sure if they had caught the man.”

Krantz said she took the rest of the day off due to stress and anxiety.

The shootings are the latest in a wave of violence that has swept the Des Moines metro since early December, including at least 10 murders, the murder by the Des Moines police department of a 16-year-old who they believe pointed a gun at them, and several non-fatal shootings.

Parizek said that while “there was nothing random” about Monday’s shootings, the specific motive was unclear. It was the eighth homicide in the city of Des Moines in the past two months, he said, “and the why is the one thing we never know sometimes unless someone tells us the why.”

More:What we know about Starts Right Here, where 2 students were shot dead and founder injured

State, local leaders respond to shootings

In a partnership that started in 2021 with Des Moines Public Schools, Starts Right Here is helping re-engage students in the district’s Options Academy credit recovery program, the school district said in a press release. It said the group supports students who are no longer in a school building due to behavioral issues.

The group serves 40 to 50 students at any one time, with the district providing educational programs. according to the release. There were no Des Moines school staff at Starts Right Here when the shooting took place, it said.

Des Moines Police Chief Dana Wingert is on the board of Starts Right Here and Governor Kim Reynolds is on an advisory board.

Reynolds signed a bill into law to expand charter schools in May 2021 at a ceremony at Starts Right Here. In a statement Monday, she said she was “shocked and saddened to hear about the shooting at Starts Right Here. I’ve seen firsthand how hard Will Keeps and his staff work to help at-risk children through this alternative education program. My heart breaks for them, these children and their families. Kevin and I are praying for a safe recovery.”

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, tweeted that he was “monitoring reports of a shooting in Des Moines at Starts Right Here…”

“Thank you to first responders and law enforcement for their prompt response,” he wrote. “Praying for all affected.”

Matt Smith, interim superintendent of Des Moines schools, said in a statement that school officials were awaiting more details, but that “we are saddened to hear of another act of gun violence, especially one that affects an organization that works closely with a number of of our students”, adding: “Our thoughts are with all the victims of this incident and their families and friends.”

Mike Beranek, president of the Iowa State Education Association, called for more effective gun violence prevention in educational institutions.

“Terror has struck close to home again. Our hearts go out to the victims, families and school community of Starts Right Here as they endure the unthinkable,” Beranek said in a statement. “We implore our elected leaders to consider effective strategies to eradicate gun violence and pursue concrete solutions that keep our students, educators and communities safe. Our schools should be bastions of security, not recipients of violence. This must come to an end. As a nation, we must recognize that this (a) social problem is seeping into our schools.”

Amid a busy day focusing on education issues, the Iowa House held a moment of silence for the victims on Monday at the request of D-Windsor Heights Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst.

Moments ago, two Des Moines students were killed in a shooting at the Starts Right Here educational nonprofit mentoring program on Southwest Fifth. One adult is believed to be in serious condition. I would like to request a moment of silence in honor of the families of those who lost a child today and to honor and uplift Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad who is currently there helping to recover the children in the aftermath,” Konfrst said.

Senator Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, also led the Iowa Senate in a moment of silence.

“I ask everyone to take a moment of silence, pray for the families of the victims and the victims, and the people of that educational institution,” Zaun said.

Will Keeps founded Starts Right Here to fight youth violence

Holmes has said he founded Starts Right Here to help prevent youth violence. He says he was born on the south side of Chicago and became involved in a gang there after traumatic events in his childhood.

“I thought the streets were my family,” he said as one of the hosts of the Des Moines Register’s Storytellers Project in 2018. “I thought these people on the street would support me more than my own family. I thought that she would protect me more than my own family would.”

Then he witnessed a friend being fatally shot and received a beating that nearly killed him, leaving him angry and aggressive, he said.

He brought those emotions to Iowa, he said, as well as his career as a rapper. But when his kids challenged him to write a song about “what’s going on in the community,” he said, he came up with a song that was about “opening up people on both sides to listen to each other and understand each other.”

It opened his eyes to the possibilities for change.

“You see, when I took negativity out of my life and added hope and multiplied that with the people around me, I saw the divisions in my city fade,” he said. “That helped me be more of a positive influence in my community.”

Staff writers Virginia Barreda, Samantha Hernandez, and F. Amanda Tugade contributed to this article.

Shootings kill 2 students at Des Moines youth nonprofit, one charged

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

Twins To Acquire Michael A. Taylor From Royals

Tom Brady gives expletive-laden response to question about future

Smaller tax refund checks are expected this year

Bipartisan TRUST Act aims to shore up Social Security, Medicare, Highway trust funds

Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto Online Has a Serious Security Bug for PC Users

More like this
Related

Twins To Acquire Michael A. Taylor From Royals

Tom Brady gives expletive-laden response to question about future

Smaller tax refund checks are expected this year

Bipartisan TRUST Act aims to shore up Social Security, Medicare, Highway trust funds

About Us

Pages

Headlines

Twins To Acquire Michael A. Taylor From Royals

Tom Brady gives expletive-laden response to question about future

Smaller tax refund checks are expected this year

Popular

Shootings kill 2 students at Des Moines youth nonprofit, one charged

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

More like thisRelated

About Us

Pages

Headlines

Popular

More like this
Related