Scoop: Starts Right Here shooting in Des Moines was recorded
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Security footage captured the entirety of the Jan. 23 shooting inside Starts Right Here, the education and monitoring program for at-risk youth in downtown Des Moines, according to police in recently unsealed search warrants obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: The video and the police investigation help provide answers to a shooting that killed two teenagers and could possibly help prevent future gun violence.
Catch up fast: Police say Preston Walls, 18, shot and killed Gionni Dameron, 18, and Rashad Carr, 16. All three had been students in the program. At least one of the victims also had a gun but was killed before he could use it.
- Starts Right Here founder and local rapper Will Keeps — whose legal name is Will Holmes — was seriously injured trying to escort Walls from the building.
What happened: Walls was charged with two counts of murder, a count of attempted murder and a count of criminal gang participation.
- Bravon Tukes, 19, was later arrested on similar charges. Police say he communicated with Walls prior to the shooting and drove the vehicle Walls was in after the incident.
Driving the news: Police warrant applications to search two DSM residences frequented by Tukes were made public last week via the state's online court document system.
- Multiple firearms, ammunition and clothing were seized from one of the residences, according to a separate court document also made public last week.
- Case details, including a description of the security footage of the shooting, were made public via the search warrant application.
State of play: Police believe the shooting stemmed from gang rivalries between "Strap Gang, OTR" (Only the Real) and "OMB" (Only My Brothers).
- They're described by police as local, neighborhood-based hybrids of criminal street gangs with numerous affiliates.
Flashback: Strap Gang originated about two years ago following what police later described as the accidental shooting death of Elijah Brown-Townsend, whose nickname was "Strap," according to the warrant.
- An OMB member was involved in that shooting, police said.
- There have been more than 50 police cases, mostly involving gun-related crimes, associated with the two groups since November 2021, according to the warrant.
Zoom in: Some OMB and Strap members began making threats to each other on social media following the December death of 16-year-old Travontay Jenkins, who was shot and killed by police.
- Jenkins, the half-brother of 19-year-old Tukes, was associated with Strap.
Zoom in further: Tukes posted on social media on Jan. 15 that he wants to see dead bodies "'cos my lil bra died an I want the same for everybody," according to the warrant.
- Carr, an OMB member and rapper, posted a music video on YouTube on Jan. 16 with lyrics referencing murders between the gangs, according to the warrant.
- The video was "extremely disrespectful" to Strap members. Threats of retaliation increased on social media the week following its release, police said.
Details: The security video shows Walls entering Starts Right Here with Keeps approaching him before the teenager breaks away and fires at Carr and Dameron, police say, who were both OMB members.
- Carr was shot multiple times trying to flee through a door.
- After "the initial volley of gunfire," Dameron tried to pull a handgun from his waistband but was then shot multiple times by Walls, police said.
What's next: Starts Right Here resumed operation at its downtown site this week with an armed security guard and metal detectors have been ordered for its main entrance, KCCI reports.
- An arraignment hearing for Walls is March 10 and one for Tukes is March 13.