Des Moines Police officer at the scene of a gunfight between officers and a fleeing suspect.Des Moines PD
A Des Moines police officer was shot and seriously wounded and a suspect is dead after an exchange of gunfire following a chase early Tuesday morning.
Sgt. Paul Parizek of the Des Moines Police Department said officers responded to a report of someone violating a no-contact order around 3:32 a.m.
Responding officers saw the suspect’s vehicle driving near the scene at 3:53 a.m. and tried to stop it. The suspect fled, then came to a stop about a mile later with police in pursuit, WHO13 reports.
Just moments later, officers reported shots had been fired and an officer had been hit.
“Suspect came out, fired on the officers, they returned fire. So, he’s dead. And the officer is at the hospital, and we’ve got another officer that’s down at the police station,” said Sgt. Parizek.
The officer was shot in the upper torso and was transported to the hospital. KCCI reports he was hit above his body armor.
Police say the officer is a 37-year-old male with four years of service in the department. He was seriously wounded in the shooting.
The Des Moines Police confirmed on Facebook that the wounded officer was apparently hit by friendly fire.
“It appears that the injured officer was struck by a round fired by the second officer as they responded to the deadly threat that they were confronted with,” police reported.
