Police are investigating an apparent gang-related shooting after two students were killed and one employee was critically injured Monday afternoon at Starts Right Here, an educational program in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, that helps at-risk youth.
Sergeant Paul Parizek of the Des Moines Police Department said two male students, ages 18 and 16, were shot after a suspect walked in to the SRH building with a 9mm handgun and began firing just before 1 p.m., according to the Des Moines Register.
The injured students were found in critical condition, and authorities attempted life-saving measures. First responders rushed the victims to a hospital, where they later died from their injuries. Parizek said Starts Right Here founder and CEO Will Holmes, a local rapper whose stage name is Will Keeps, was injured and remains hospitalized in serious condition.
Parizek said the suspect likely knew the victims and that the shooting was 'targeted.'
“The incident was definitely targeted, it was not random. There was nothing random about this,” Parizek said in a statement obtained by the Wall Street Journal.
On Monday evening, police charged 18-year-old Des Moines resident Preston Walls with two counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and criminal gang participation, the newspaper stated. When Holmes tried to escort Walls from the area, he turned around and started shooting, Des Moines police said.
"Walls, and both deceased victims, are known gang members, belonging to opposing gangs, and evidence indicates that that these crimes were committed as a result of an ongoing gang dispute," Parizek stated in a news release.
Police received a vehicle description and made a traffic stop not far from where the shooting took place.
About 1:20 p.m., officers pulled over the vehicle roughly two miles south of where the shooting occurred, Parizek said. Walls allegedly ran away and was eventually tracked down by a K-9 officer. Two other people remained inside the car. Authorities arrested all three individuals, per CNN.
"Starts Right Here (SRH) is busy inspiring at-risk youth in the Des Moines Public Schools and motivating youth through speaking events. Will Keeps, SRH President, performs empowering songs to inspire and speak the truth," the organization's website reads. Holmes is a Chicago native who later moved to Des Moines.
The nonprofit organization is connected to the Des Moines school system, with Des Moines Police Department Chief Dana Wingert on its board of directors and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds on its advisory board.
Local and state leaders have reacted to Monday's shooting.
“I am shocked and saddened to hear about the shooting at Starts Right Here. I’ve seen first-hand how hard Will Keeps and his staff works to help at-risk kids through this alternative education program," Reynolds said in a statement obtained by CNN. "My heart breaks for them, these kids and their families. Kevin and I are praying for their safe recovery.”
Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie also shared his thoughts on Monday's shooting, calling it a "horrific" incident.
“I want to take a moment and address the horrific shooting this afternoon at Starts Right Here, the school program on Southwest 5th St. and it is run by a friend of the city, Will Keeps, who is recovering tonight in the hospital,” Cownie said in a video statement.
Holmes launched Starts Right Here to help at-risk youth and to prevent gun violence.
The rapper grew up on the South Side of Chicago and was involved with a gang early in his childhood. "I thought the streets was my family," he said as one of the presenters at the Des Moines Register's Storytellers Project in 2018. "I thought these people on the streets would have my back more than my own family would. I thought that they would protect me more than my own family would."
After witnessing several traumatic experiences, Holmes moved to Iowa and continued his musical career. He credits his children for inspiring him to create a song that sheds light on issues happening in the community, per the Register.
"You see, when I subtracted negativity from my life and added hope and multiplied that to the people around me, I saw the division in my city start to fade," he said. "That helped me have more of a positive influence in my community."
