Iowa police shootings 'cowardly,' chief says; suspect charged with murder
DES MOINES — Visibly angry, Des Moines' police chief Thursday lashed out at the man accused of fatally ambushing two Iowa officers, calling the suspect a “monster” and the shootings “cowardly.”
“This was calculated murder,” said Chief Dana Wingert during a morning news conference. “There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it. It was cowardly in every sense of the word, from the way it was carried out, to the way that it ended.
“When the suspect — the monster that does this — has options of how this was going to end … he chose to run and hide.”
Des Moines Police Sgt. Anthony “Tony” Beminio, 38, and Urbandale Police Officer Justin Martin, 24, were killed in separate barrages of gunfire about two miles apart early Wednesday morning.
The sole suspect accused of slaying those officers, 46-year-old Scott Michael Greene of Urbandale, Iowa, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, according to a Thursday press release, and was taken to the Polk County Jail wearing handcuffs that belonged to the fallen officers.
"The investigation has produced probable cause to support these charges," the Des Moines Police Department release said.
Greene, who less than nine hours after the shooting turned himself over to a Department of Natural Resources employee in rural Dallas County, Iowa, has had numerous run-ins with local police. He faces a life sentence in prison if convicted.
On Thursday morning, Wingert voiced the anger and frustration that police have felt over the unexplained shootings, for which no motive has been discerned.
“Tony and Justin did not deserve this,” said Wingert, his lips quivering as he fought to keep his emotions in check. “The Des Moines Police Department and the Urbandale Police Department did not deserve this. The communities that we protect and represent did not deserve this.
“But most importantly, there are two families that have been torn apart — and they certainly did not deserve this.”
Wingert, who did not take questions, said law enforcement must serve all factions of society, even those who are the most difficult to deal with it.
He said there "is a faction of our society this is nearly impossible to police."
“Unlike any other business, we do not get to pick our clients,” Wingert said. “We are obligated to go out in the streets and co-exist with them and provide that same service and that fundamental fairness that we do everyone else.
“Central Iowa is very lucky to have men and women in blue who are willing to take on this challenge every single day.”
Also Thursday, officials announced:
• The weapon used in the slayings was found in an area in Dallas County near where Greene was apprehended. The rifle had been well-hidden, said Sgt. Paul Parizek, Des Moines police spokesman. However, an explosive detection dog on loan from the ATF was able to find it. He did not identify the make and model.
“There is absolutely no way anyone would have been able to find” the rifle, Parizek said.
• The truck Greene was driving was left near where he was apprehended. Parizek said the vehicle, which was searched, was “bogged down” in mud.
• Officials have searched the house in which Greene lived. No details were provided on what, if anything, was discovered.
Follow Kathy A. Bolten on Twitter: @kbolten
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