Charly Haley, and Molly Longman

Des Moines Register

Police found multiple guns and at least 40 shell casings at the scene of a shooting that injured five people early Sunday in Des Moines.

At about 3 a.m., police were called to J & J Pizza, 2500 Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway, on multiple reports of gunshots being fired, Des Moines police spokesman Sgt. Paul Parizek said.

Police found two gunshot victims at the scene, and they were transported to local hospitals by ambulance. Three others had already been taken to local hospitals by private vehicles, Parizek said.

Police later identified the victims as Samira Goldman, 18; Barry Adair Jr., 27; Reinaldo Villarreal III, 21; Donnie Blanco, 27, and Ceron Williams, 25. All were residents of Des Moines.

All five victims are expected to survive, he said.

Tad Andersen, a Mercy Medical Center spokesman, said Adair was discharged from the hospital Sunday afternoon.

Police blocked off MLK Parkway just north of Hickman Road to investigate the shooting. Police remained on the scene and one southbound lane was closed to traffic until about 10:30 a.m., as investigators surveyed the scene.

Evidence of illegal narcotics activity was also found at the scene, according to the release.

Chien Nguyen, 54, a neighbor whose apartment's balcony looks out over the parking lot where the shooting happened, said he woke up around 3 a.m. when he heard the gun shots.

One bullet went through his living room window.

Nguyen lives in the apartment with his wife and two teenage daughters.

"I just told them to stay away from the window," Nguyen said of his family.

Nguyen took cell phone video of the incident, which shows figures running around the parking lot before shots are fired and a few cars drive away.

Nguyen says this isn't the first time the business has been plagued by crime.

"They need to close," Nguyen said of J & J Pizza. "Not safe for the neighborhood."

J & J Pizza was the scene of another shooting on Jan. 28.

Sam Ites, manager at the QuikTrip gas station down the street from J & J Pizza, said he'd heard the business was "one of the shadiest places," but Des Moines City Councilman Bill Gray said the business has always cooperated with the city.

"I met with [the owners] probably a year-and-a-half to two years ago, when they were getting things started because they were concerned ... about some perceived illegal activity that was taking place across the driveway," Gray said. "They're trying to run a good business."

The person listed as the owner of the business did not immediately answer calls from The Register on Sunday morning.

Gray said patrols in the area will be increased over the summer months.

Parizek said the police department's vice and narcotics division was also involved in the investigation, as J & J Pizza has a liquor license.

Des Moines Fire Department medics also responded to the scene to assist in helping the gunshot victims.

Parizek said no suspects were in custody as of 4 p.m. Sunday.