Police in Des Moines, Iowa, say two officers have been shot and killed in ambush-style attacks about two miles apart. The suspect in the killings of the two officers is in custody.
The Des Moines Police Department said in a news release that the shootings took place early Wednesday. Officers responded to a report of shots fired at about 1:06 a.m. and found an Urbandale Police Department officer, who had been shot. Des Moines officers responded to assist. About 20 minutes later, a Des Moines officer was found shot. The Urbandale officer –Justin Martin — was dead at the scene and the Des Moines officer –Sgt. Anthony “Tony” Beminio — died at a hospital.
Scott Michael Greene. Photo: Urbandale Police Department
Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek says the suspect in the case, 46-year-old Scott Michael Greene, surrendered to a state Department of Natural Resources officer. Greene flagged down the officer Wednesday morning in rural Dallas County, west of Des Moines, and presented his identification. He was taken into custody and was treated at a Des Moines hospital.
Police said a “series of leads and investigative tips” led them to identify Greene as the suspect in the killings.
Wednesday’s shootings weren’t the first negative interactions Greene has had with police. Iowa court records show Greene, of Urbandale, was jailed and charged with interference with official acts after resisting Urbandale police officers trying to pat him down for a weapon on April 10, 2014. A complaint signed by an Urbandale officer says Greene resisted verbal commands, was hostile and combative. It says he was known to be armed. He entered a guilty plea and was fined.
Two days later, Urbandale police were called to answer a complaint of harassment at the apartment complex where Greene lived. The complaint says he threatened to kill another man during a confrontation in the parking lot. He was charged with harassment, pleaded guilty and received a suspended jail sentence and a year of probation. Records show he completed a court-ordered substance abuse and psychological evaluation.
Additionally, Urbandale Police Chief Ross McCarty confirmed that weeks before Greene was apprehended Wednesday, he was removed from a high school football game because he displayed a Confederate flag during the national anthem. McCarty says some spectators complained after Greene waved the flag in front of spectators who are minorities.
Greene shot a video of the Oct. 14 incident that he posted online. He complained to officers that his constitutional rights were being violated because they were throwing him out, but police told him he was on private property and needed to leave.
Thank you to our community for the outpouring of support. We are beyond blessed to serve the community of Urbandale. pic.twitter.com/0qZxhhjJzx
— Urbandale Police (@UrbandalePolice) November 2, 2016
Since the shootings, residents have been placing flowers and cards on police cruisers set up at memorials outside the Des Moines and Urbandale police departments.
Samantha Hooker brought flowers Wednesday to the growing memorial outside of the Urbandale police headquarters. Hooker, of Urbandale, said she lives near where Martin was shot and heard police sirens in the early morning hours Wednesday.
Hooker said she decided to bring roses to the memorial because, “I just felt bad about the friends and family of this police officer.” She mentioned the police shootings that have happened around the country and added: “I’m so scared that nobody is going to take care of us anymore.”
President Barack Obama offered his condolences to the families of the two officers, who were killed during what Obama calls “shameful acts of violence.” Obama said in a written statement that Beminio and Martin embodied the most decent human instinct: to put themselves in harm’s way for someone else.
Obama said the country owes its respect and gratitude to police officers who go to work every day not knowing whether they’ll come home.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch strongly condemned the killings, and said the shootings early Wednesday are the latest in a “series of senseless attacks” and that “violence has no place in the United States of America.” She said violence is “especially intolerable” when it’s directed at law enforcement officers who risk their lives to protect the public.
The shootings follow the fatal ambushes this summer of officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as well as the recent attack on a Fairbanks police officer, who later died from surgery complications related to the shooting.
Lynch said the Justice Department is determined to give officers the tools they need to do their jobs safely and effectively.
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