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DES MOINES (United States), Jan. 24 (AP) — An 18-year-old man involved in an ongoing gang dispute walked into a common area of an alternative education program for at-risk students, police said, and The man who premeditatedly shot and killed two teens chased one of the men and shot him several times as he tried to flee, according to a charging document released Tuesday.
The shooting on Monday that killed two males, aged 18 and 16, and left the project’s founder with serious and life-threatening injuries was a targeted attack, police said.
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Starts Right Here founder William Holmes, 49, underwent surgery and is in critical condition.
Holmes, an activist and rapper who goes by the stage name Will Keeps, has escaped a life of gangs and violence and has dedicated his life to helping Des Moines youth, according to regional community development organizations.
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Preston Walls, 18, of Des Moines, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
He is in jail on $1 million bond. He was also charged with participating in a criminal gang, police said. Walls, who was on supervised release on weapons charges, cut off the ankle monitor 16 minutes before the shooting, police said.
“There’s nothing random about this,” police Sgt. Paul Parisek said.
Investigators said in charging documents that Walls had a 9mm semi-automatic pistol with a high-capacity extended magazine hidden on his person when he entered the public area of the “Start Here” program.
Holmes tried to escort Walls away, but Walls pulled away, drew his gun and fired several shots at the two teens, the affidavit said.
One of the victims tried to run away, but the affidavit said Walls caught up to him “and shot him multiple times.”
Holmes, who was standing nearby, was hit.
Officers saw a suspicious vehicle leaving the area and stopped it. Police say Walls ran away, but was found hiding in a pile of bushes with a 9mm pistol by his side. Three of the magazines held 31 rounds, police said.
The shooting was captured on surveillance video, and Walls’ clothing and his Glock pistol matched those seen in the video, according to the affidavit.
In a statement, the Starts Right Here board said classes were canceled for the remainder of the week and grief counselors would be available.
“These actions run counter to everything we stand for and point out that more must be done,” the board said. “These two students have hope and a future that will never come true. We can no longer say this type of violence won’t happen in Des Moines. Sadly, it does.”
Mayor Frank Coney said the other two who were in the same car as Walls were also teenagers. They were detained and released without charge.
Walls has yet to appear in court.
Walls was indicted last year on three counts of willfully resisting or obstructing a West Des Moines police officer while in possession of a firearm and while intoxicated, court records show.
His attorney in the case, Jake Feuerhelm, said Walls was part of a party of youth approached by police during the incident last May. As they tried to sort out what happened, Walls, then 17, took off. Feuerhelm said he was charged because he was carrying a weapon when he fled from police.
In December, he was placed under supervision of the Correctional Services Department’s Young Offender Program, a form of triage that allows him to avoid a felony conviction if he successfully completes intensive supervision.
Feuerhelm said he didn’t know if Walls was part of the school’s curriculum.
Start Here is an educational program for at-risk youth in grades 9-12 that is part of the Des Moines School District.
“This school was designed to pick up the pieces and help the kids who need it the most,” Parizek said.
The Greater Des Moines Partnership, the area’s economic and community development organization, said on its website that Keeps came to Des Moines from Chicago about 20 years ago, where he “lived in a world of gangs and violence” before finding a cure. method through music. He founded Starts Right Here in 2021.
The partnership says the Starts Right Here campaign “aims to inspire and educate young people living in disadvantaged and oppressed situations through arts, entertainment, music, hip-hop and other programs.” The program teaches financial literacy, as well as communication and job search interview skills.
The school’s website says 70 percent of the students it serves are minorities, and it has graduated 28 since it opened. The district said the program serves 40 to 50 students at any given time.
“I’ve seen firsthand how Will Keeps and his staff are working hard to help at-risk kids through this alternative education program,” Gov. Kim Reynolds, who serves on the Starts Right Here advisory board, said in a statement. “My heart breaks for them, these children and their families.”
The shooting was the sixth incident at a U.S. school this year in which someone was injured or killed, but the first that resulted in a fatality, according to Education Weekly, which tracks school shootings. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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