Des Moines school shooting - live: Three suspects arrested in mass shooting as victim identified
Three suspects are in custody according to police
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A shooting at a Des Moines, Iowa, non-profit organisation for urban youth has left two students dead and a teacher injured, according to police.
The shooting took place at a programme called Starts Right Here, which is affiliated with the Des Moines school district, the Associated Press reported. The programme is held at a business park in the city.
Police said “multiple suspects” were taken into custody about 20 minutes after the incident.
Three people were stopped in a vehicle and one attempted to run but was apprehended.
Sergeant Paul Parizek of the Des Moines Police Department said that the shooting is a targeted incident.
Follow for the latest updates.
Injured victim of Des Moines shooting is founder of youth centre
Will Keeps, the rapper and activist who founded the Starts Right Here youth centre where the Des Moines shooting took place, was injured in the violence, KCCI reports.
Mr Keeps, who grew up exposed to gang violence in Chicago, started the programme as a safe haven for at-risk youth.
Mayor calls gun violence a ‘growing and alarming phenomenon'
Des Moines, Iowa, has been experiencing a shocking run of violence, according to local officials, including a shooting Monday afternoon at a youth centre.
“This is a growing and an alarming phenomenon in our country and one we’ve seen too often in the past and again today in the city of Des Moines,” mayor Frank Cownie said during a city council meeting on Monday.
The city has been experiencing a “wave of violence,” according to the Des Moines Register.
There have been at least 10 homicides since December, according to the paper, including the police shooting of a 16-year-old.
Police looking at ‘most serious charges’ for Des Moines shooting
Police have three suspects in custody related to a Monday shooting at a Des Moines, Iowa, youth centre.
“We’ve got two people dead, so we’re looking at the most serious charges,” Police Sgt. Paul Parizek told CNN.
Shooting victim includes activist with ties to top Iowa officials
One of those affected in the Des Moines violence on Monday is activist Will Keeps, founder of the Starts Right Here centre where the shooting took place.
Mr Keeps, a rapper and activist, won approval for his work from figures including Iowa governor Kim Reynolds.
Last year, Mr Keeps shared a photo on LinkedIn of the governor visiting him at home.
Youth centre founder injured in shooting: mayor
Two youth are dead and one person is injured folllowing a shooting at a Des Moines, Iowa, youth centre on Monday.
The injured individual is Will Keeps, the rapper and activist who founded the programme, according to Des Moines mayor Frank Cownie.
Mr Keeps was taken to the hospital in serious condition and taken into surgery, KCCI reports.
‘Police cannot do it all,’ officer says after Des Moines shooting
It’s a familiar scene across America: a shooting occurs, and a comunity begins to search for answers.
Des Moines police sergeant Paul Parizek says stopping such tragedies goes beyond policing alone.
“We’ve got to get everybody around the table and start finding the solutions to this because the police cannot do it all,” he said on Monday, the New York Times reports. “We’re good at what we do, but that doesn’t give families any peace. That doesn’t give the friends of these kids any hope that it’s going to get any better. We need the support on that front side.”
Des Moines experiencing ‘wave of violence’
A Monday morning shooting at a Des Moines, Iowa, youth centre sadly isn’t an isolated occurence.
The city has been experiencing a “wave of violence,” according to the Des Moines Register.
There have been at least 10 homicides since December, according to the paper, including the police shooting of a 16-year-old.
‘Again, again, and again’: Another week filled with mass shootings
Since Saturday’s shootings at Lunar New Year celebration in Southern California, there has been one mass shooting a day, including gun violence in Baton Rouge that injured a dozen people, and a shooting at a youth centre in Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday morning.
Gun safety groups said the string of shootings was a reminder of America’s gun violence problem.
“Again, again, and again,” the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence wrote on Twitter on Monday. “Two students have been killed and a teacher injured in a school shooting in Des Moines, Iowa. We’ve barely taken a breath and processed the shootings in Monterey Park and Baton Rouge—yet another community is now hurting.”
Iowa legislators hold moment of silence
Lawmakers at the Iowa statehouse held a moment of silence on Monday in honour of two students who were fatally shot at a Des Moines youth centre earlier in the day.
Here’s a video of the poignant moment captured by reporter Ty Rushing.
Senator praises ‘positive impact’ Starts Right Here had on Iowa youth
In the wake of a deadly shooting at Iowa education outreach centre Starts Right Here, Iowa officials are highlighting the work the programme did with at-risk Des Moines youth.
“I’m saddened to hear of the shooting at Starts Right Here in Des Moines,” US Senator for Iowa Joni Ernst wrote on Twitter. “I‘ve seen the positive impact Will Keeps and his staff have on young Iowans. Keeping all those impacted in my prayers.”
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