Iowa City Police are investigating a shooting that occurred in the Ped Mall. Three persons were transported to an area hospital.
On Saturday August 27th at 1:29 am, Iowa City police officers patrolling the pedestrian mall heard shots fired in the area of College St. and Dubuque St. Responding officers discovered three shooting victims at various locations around that area. All three victims were transported to an area hospital for treatment. Several law enforcement agencies from the surrounding areas assisted in securing the scene and controlling crowds. A number of individuals in the area were transported to the Iowa City Police Department and are being interviewed to determine what, if any, role they had in the incident. There have been no arrests at this time. The Iowa City detectives are on-scene and the investigation continues. The University of Iowa issued a Hawk Alert due to the proximity of the scene in relation to the campus. The names and conditions of the victims, ages 22, 26, and 27, are not being released at this time. Due to the large volume of inquiries from parents, Iowa City officers confirmed the victims are not University of Iowa students.Iowa City Police Captain Troy Kelsay held a press conference earlier this morning at around 5:30 AM. It appears that there was a heightened police presence already last night at the Ped Mall because of the new school year. They heard multiple gun shots at 1:30 AM and were able to quickly identify the three gunshot victims (one of whom was still in surgery at the time of today's press conference), as well as several people involved with the altercation and gunfire. They were still questioning the people of interest so no charges had yet been issued to any as of 5:30 AM. However, he noted that at least two of the individuals being detained would likely be charged for firearms offenses and for their role in what happened on the Ped Mall.
Captain Kelsay stressed that this was not a gang-related event. He specifically said that there were two "groups" of individuals. One group is from Iowa City while the other group came to Iowa City from another community socializing. The two groups appeared to know each other and there was animosity between the two groups. The fight and shooting happened between these two groups. It was not a random shooting.
There was a second UI Hawk Alert last night involving an armed robbery on East Market Street. Captain Kelsay noted that these two incidents were not related.
Updated: Two men have been charged for today's early morning downtown shooting:
Two men are in custody in connection with the shooting: Donte R. Taylor, 21 of Cedar Rapids; and Lamar C. Wilson, 23 of Iowa City. Wilson faces three counts of attempted murder and three counts of intimidation with a dangerous weapon. Attempted murder is a Class B felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison.
Taylor faces charges of trafficking in stolen weapons, possession of a firearm by a felon, carrying weapons, interference with official acts and public intoxication.You can read more here.