Des Moines Police Sergeant Paul Parizek announced on Monday that two students who were shot at Starts Right Here have died at the hospital. An employee of the school is undergoing surgery and listed in serious condition.
Parizek said the police received the first calls at about 12:53 p.m. reporting the shooting. Initial reports indicated there were several people shot. The responding officers found three people with gun shot injuries. Officers at the scene performed CPR until medics arrived to transport the victims to the hospital.
“Those two people, both students, are dead now,” Parizek said.
About 20 minutes after the initial call, Parizek said patrol officers spotted a vehicle matching the description given about two miles south. Two individuals stayed in the car while another bailed. A K-9 was deployed and tracked down the suspect.
Parizek said all three potential suspects are in custody and being interviewed at the police station.
Parizek added he didn’t know if the two deceased victims are adults or minor teenagers.
When asked about potential charges, Parizek said we are a “ways away” from that.
“But obviously we’ve got two people dead, so we’re looking at the most serious charges of murder,” Parizek said.
Information regarding the suspects was extremely limited. He also didn’t have any information about a motive.
Parizek said the police are good at their jobs, but the community must come up with a solution to the violence.
“We can’t help with that a lot,” he said. “It has to be a community-based approach. I feel like a broken record. We’ve got to get everybody around the table and start finding the solution to this because the police cannot do it all. Again, 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 better. We need the support on the front side. It’s got to happen at the front end.”
Start Rights Here works “very closely” with the DMPD, Parizek said. He said schools are supposed to be our “safe spaces.”
“The school is designed to pick up the slack and help kids who need help the most,” Parizek said. “To have it happen here is going to be a horrible impact on the community. The fact that two kids are dead, that’s horrible enough.”
Parizek said the shooting was “certainly targeted” and not random.
“It’s a sad story that we talk about far too often and we’re losing a generation of kids,” Parizek said. “We’ve got to, as a community, get our arms wrapped around it.”
Is it true that the Governor and Chief of Police are both board members of that school? I find it ironic timing that she signed a School Choice Week Proclomation this morning, and they’re debating school choice today, and this happens at a choice school she is associated with. Especially with the level of opposition from the left for school choice. I feel bad for the students, staff, and their families. This incident is horrible and even made it on Oreo Express Media (based out of California) this afternoon. Hopefully mainstream media doesn’t bury it and forget it in a few days either.