Shots fired on SE 14th, one man hit

One man was hit when multiple shots were fired on Des Moines’ south side, though police haven’t identified suspects.

Officers heard four shots around 2:26 a.m. Sunday in the 5800 block of Southeast 14th Street then saw a car speed away, according to a police report.

After stopping the vehicle, the driver and two passengers said their cousin had been shot in an apartment complex and there was still a fight happening in the parking lot. People were running and screaming from the complex and as officers approached, more were running down the stairs.

One shirtless man had blood on his face, the report stated.

Police found bullets and bullet casings in an apartment on the third floor and two fresh bullet holes on the deck. Witnesses said there was a party on that floor when the shooting occurred.

A witness who gave police a fake name told officers who he thought the shooters were, including the man who had blood on his face. Initially the witness was taken into custody for harassment of a public official, but police let him go after he cooperated and gave names of the suspects.

The witness said two men were having an argument which escalated when one fired at the other and the other fired back.

No one was arrested.

Later, police visited a man at Iowa Methodist Medical Center who had been shot in his left forearm.

The man said he was outside his home in the 1800 block of 22nd Street when he heard three or four gun shots. He walked toward the shots, heard one more, then pain in his left arm.

When he looked down, he saw his arm was bleeding. A few cars passed him by until he could flag one down who then drove him to the hospital.

Sgt. Jason Halifax of the Des Moines Police Department said it’s likely that the two incidents are related.