Des Moines, Iowa –

1/24/23 – 6:15 a.m. – The other two persons who were in the car with the suspect have been released without charges.

1/23/23 – 8:00 p.m. – From the Des Moines Police Department Official Release:

The persons killed in this incident are an 18-year-old, male, Des Moines resident and a 16-year-old, male, Des Moines resident.

The person injured in this incident is 49-year-old Altoona resident William Holmes, also known as Will Keeps. Holmes is the founder and CEO of Starts Right Here. Holmes remains hospitalized in serious condition.

Des Moines Police Department detectives have made an arrest in this investigation.

18-year-old Des Moines resident Preston Walls has been charged with the following offenses:

• Murder – 1st Degree (two counts)

• Attempted Murder

• Criminal Gang Participation

Evidence in this investigation indicates the following:

Walls was present, along with all three victims, at Starts Right Here. Walls had in his possession a 9mm handgun with an extended ammunition magazine. Walls entered into a common area where all three victims were located and Holmes, the organization’s administrator, attempted to escort Walls from the area. Walls pulled away from Holmes, pulled out the handgun, and began to shoot both teenage victims. Holmes was standing nearby and was also shot. Walls then fled the scene on foot.

Responding Des Moines Police Department patrol officers saw a suspicious vehicle leaving the area of the shooting. A traffic stop was conducted and Walls fled from the vehicle. Walls was located a

short time later and taken into custody without incident. The 9mm handgun was found nearby. The ammunition magazine in the handgun has a capacity of 31 rounds, and contained three.

Additional evidence indicates that Walls cut off a court-ordered GPS ankle monitor, a supervised pre-trial release condition following a weapons charge, approximately 16 minutes prior to the shooting.

Walls, and both deceased victims, are known gang members, belonging to opposing gangs, and evidence indicates that these crimes were committed as a result of an ongoing gang dispute.

At this time, two additional persons remain in custody as the ongoing investigation progresses.

Des Moines Police Department detectives continue to investigate this incident.

1/23/23 – 7:00 p.m.: At tonight’s Des Moines City Council meeting, Mayor Frank Cownie identified the third shooting victim as Will Keeps, founder of Starts Right Here. He said Keeps is recovering in the hospital.

Cownie also said that both of the other victims, and the three suspects, are all teenagers. He noted, “That brings a total of five families of teenagers affected by youth gun violence in a matter of minutes on a Monday afternoon, right here in our capital city.” Cownie continued, “This is a growing and alarming phenomenon in our country and one we’ve seen too often in the past and again today in the city of Des Moines.”

1/23/23 – 3:45 p.m.:

At 12:53 p.m. Des Moines Police (DMPD) received a call to 911 about a shooting at Starts Right Here, a nonprofit school on Southwest 5th Street, in Des Moines. When officers arrived they found three people shot – two students in critical condition and one staff member in serious condition.

Officers began CPR on the two students until medics arrived to take over. Des Moines Fire transported the students to the hospital where they both died. The wounded staff member was taken to the hospital as well. They are is in serious condition and going into surgery.

Witnesses were able to give the DMPD a description of the suspects and their vehicle. Officers pulled the vehicle over about two miles away near Macrae Park in Des Moines. Two suspects remained in the car on orders from the police. However, one suspect ran from the scene. Officers used a canine officer to chase the suspect down and take them into custody. The three suspects are at the Des Moines Police Station being questioned at this time.

DMPD Public Information Officer Paul Parizek says they do not have the ages of the victims or suspects at this time.

Updates as facts are released. 

Story by Kate Garner