Two students were killed at a local mentorship program in Des Moines, Iowa after a person with a gun opened fire on the nonprofit’s premises Monday afternoon. Des Moines police said there is a third student in serious condition after the allegedly targeted incident.
Des Moines police spokesperson Paul Parizek told the Des Moines Register “there was nothing random” about the shooting, though the motive of the suspect is unclear. Police stopped a vehicle at a park two miles south from the Starts Right Here facility, where the shooting occurred. One person fled and was tracked by a K-9 officer, while two others remained in the vehicle and were questioned by authorities.
Two of the students who were shot were administered CPR on the scene before being transported to a local hospital where they died. One other student is in serious condition.
An office next door to the school was immediately put on lockdown following the shooting, a bystander told the Register. “It’s terrifying. We’re all worried. We went on lockdown, obviously. We were all told to stay away from the windows because we weren’t sure if they caught the guy,” Nicole Krantz, who works at nearby MercyOne Des Moines Clinic Administration, told the newspaper.
Since early December, there have been at least 10 homicides in the city. A 16-year-old was also recently shot and killed by the police late last year.
Starts Right Here — the nonprofit educational mentorship program founded by local rapper Will Keeps — offers learning programs to low-income students and helps them recover school credits to graduate.
Last week, Keeps shared a photo with students in the program after taking them on a tour at local Bright College. “Starts Right Here kids Preparing themselves for college!!!” he wrote on Instagram.
Des Moines Police Chief Dana Wingert is on the Starts Right Here board, and Gov. Kim Reynolds is on an advisory board of the organization, per The Register.
Des Moines schools interim Superintendent Matt Smith said in a statement to the Register that the district is “saddened to learn of another act of gun violence, especially one that impacts an organization that works closely with some of our students.”
“Our thoughts are with any victims of this incident and their families and friends,” Smith added.