Second man charged with murder in Starts Right Here deadly shooting

EIGHT NEWS STARTS RIGHT NOW WITH BREAKING NEWS WE’VE BEEN FOLLOWING THE TRAGIC BREAKING NEWS SINCE EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. THE DUBAI POLICE SAY TWO STUDENTS ARE DEAD AND AN EMPLOYEE OF THE SCHOOL IS HOSPITALIZED AFTER A SHOOTING AT A YOUTH OUTREACH CENTER JUST SOUTH OF DOWNTOWN. INVESTIGATORS ARE NOW INTERVIEWING THREE PEOPLE WHO WERE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY AT A SEPARATE SCENE A FEW MILES AWAY. POLICE ARE CALLING WHAT HAPPENED THIS AFTERNOON A TARGETED ATTACK. IT HAPPENED. IT STARTS RIGHT HERE ON SOUTHEAST FIFTH STREET. KCCI JAMES STRATTON IS THERE. HE BEGINS OUR TEAM COVERAGE WITH WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT THIS SHOOTING. JAMES. AND STEVEN STACEY, A QUIET AND SOMBER SCENE BEHIND ME AT THIS NONPROFIT HERE ON THE SOUTH EDGE OF DOWNTOWN. YOU SAID IT, TWO KIDS DEAD. THE FOUNDER OF THIS NONPROFIT IN SERIOUS CONDITION IN THE HOSPITAL TONIGHT. ABOUT 5 HOURS AGO, A MUCH DIFFERENT SITUATION RIGHT WHERE I’M STANDING. A CHAOTIC SCENE AS PARENTS AND PEOPLE ALL RUSHED HERE ALONG WITH POLICE, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED. IT’S KILLING KIDS. THIS IS BAD, REAL BAD. A DISTRAUGHT DEONDRE SMITH DECIDED TO TRY TO PICK UP HIS DAUGHTER AFTER SHE WAS INSIDE WHILE TWO OTHER KIDS WERE SHOT AT, STARTS RIGHT HERE, A NONPROFIT THAT AIMS TO HELP TROUBLED KIDS RUN BY RAPPER WILL KEEPS TRYING TO MAKE THIS PROGRAM FOR THESE KIDS LIKE THE DUKE. GOT IT GOING ON. HE GOT STUDIO EVERYTHING IN THERE FOR THEM CARE FOR DIDN’T BECOME INTERNET LIKE THAT. THOSE TWO KIDS DIED. A STAFF MEMBER IS IN SERIOUS CONDITION AWAITING SURGERY, ACCORDING TO POLICE SERGEANT PAUL PERISIC SAYS THEY ARE STILL INVESTIGATING THE MOTIVE AND SUGGEST EVERYONE COME TOGETHER TO STOP SHOOTINGS FROM HAPPENING. WE’VE GOT TO GET EVERYBODY AROUND THE TABLE AND IN FACT START FINDING THE SOLUTIONS TO THIS. A SOLUTION AND AN OUTCOME THAT DEONDRE SMITH WANTS FOR HIS KIDS AND HIS COMMUNITY IS KILLING KIDS. THIS IS BAD, REAL BAD, LIKE SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE ABOUT IT. AND THE ANDRE’S DAUGHTER WAS NOT HERE. SHE WAS ALREADY AT POLICE IN FOR QUESTIONING AT THE DEPARTMENT BECAUSE SHE WITNESSED WHAT HAPPENS THAT FOUNDER WILL KEITH’S IS THE ONE IN SERIOUS CONDITION TONIGHT, RECOVERING, TRYING TO RECOVER AT A LOCAL HOSPITAL. THE EMOTIONAL RECOVERY HERE IS GOING TO TAKE QUITE SOME TIME. WE’RE LIVE ON THE SOUTH END OF DOWNTOWN FOR YOU TONIGHT. I’M JAMES STRATTON KCCI 8 NEWS IOWA’S NEWS LEADER AND WE ARE WAITING TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE THREE PEOPLE IN POLICE CUSTODY IN CONNECTION WITH THIS SHOOTING. POLICE SAY A WITNESS HELPED THEM TRACK A CAR TO A NEIGHBORHOOD NEAR MCCREA PARK, JUST SOUTH OF DOWNTOWN AND A COUPLE OF MILES AWAY FROM THE SHOOTING SCENE. KCCI BEAU BOWMAN HAS BEEN ON THAT SCENE ALL DAY LONG. AND BO, YOU TALKED WITH SOME PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THAT AREA AND THEY WATCH THIS HAPPEN. THAT’S RIGHT, STEVE. THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE ON CROWN COLONY COURT SAY THEY THE DRIVERS OF THE CAR CAME ALL THE WAY DOWN HERE TO THE END OF THE ROAD AND THEN TOOK OFF INTO THE WOODED AREA. AND THAT’S WHERE POLICE OFFICERS EVENTUALLY CAUGHT THEM. WE GOT THERE SHORTLY AFTER AS POLICE WERE STILL SEARCHING THE AREA, LOOKING THROUGH THE WOODS HERE, YOU CAN SEE THE VIEW FROM SKY AS THE CANINE UNIT SNIFFED THROUGH THE SNOW. PEOPLE WHO SAW IT HAPPEN SAID THEY FIRST HEARD THE SIREN SIRENS OVER ON THOMAS BECK ROAD, WHICH IS JUST THEIR BACK YARD, AND THEN LOOKED OUT THE WINDOWS AND SAW THEIR QUIET STREET FLOODED WITH CARS. I, I THINK THERE WERE SIX OR SEVEN POLICE CARS. AND THEN I SAW KIND OF TWO CARS IN THE CUL DE SAC AND ONE WITH THE DOORS OPEN. JUST ALL THE DOORS OPEN. I LOOK OUT THE WINDOW AND I ACTUALLY SAW SOME POLICEMEN AND A AND A GERMAN SHEPHERD RUNNING ALONG THE BACK. AND I THOUGHT, OH, YOU KNOW, WHAT’S HAPPENING. POLICE DID EVENTUALLY TRACK THOSE SUSPECTS DOWN. THEY ARE IN CUSTODY, BUT NO CHARGES HAVE BEEN FILED YET. WE’RE LIVE IN DES MOINES, BEAU BOWMAN KCCI 8 NEWS IOWA’S NEWS LEADER IS STATE AND SCHOOL LEADERS ARE NOW OFFERING THEIR CONDOLENCES TO THE FAMILIES CAUGHT UP IN THIS TRAGEDY. KCCI LAURA TERRELL IS AT DES MOINES CITY HALL TONIGHT WITH THE REACTION THERE. LAURA STACY AND STEVE. TONIGHT’S CITY COUNCIL MEETING FELT HEAVY. THERE WAS AN EMOTION, NO FEELING IN THAT ROOM FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS LIKE AK ABDUL SAMAD, WHO WAS SITTING IN HIS CHAIR ALMOST IN TEARS. DEFINITELY A SOMBER NIGHT TONIGHT HERE AT CITY COUNCIL THAT WE’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE. MAYOR FRANK COUNTY WAS THE ONE WE FIRST HEARD FROM THAT THIS PERSON IN THE HOSPITAL IS INDEED WILL KEEPS THE FOUNDER OF THIS NONPROFIT FOR AT RISK YOUTH. WILL HAS DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO STOPPING VIOLENCE JUST LIKE THIS. AND HERE IS WHAT MAYOR COUNTY SAID TONIGHT. I WANT TO TAKE A MOMENT AND ADDRESS THE HORRIFIC SHOOTING THIS AFTERNOON. IT STARTS RIGHT HERE. IT’S A SCHOOL PROGRAM ON SOUTHWEST FIFTH STREET AND IT’S RUN BY A FRIEND OF THE CITY WILL KEEP WHO IS RECOVERING TONIGHT IN THE HOSPITAL. WE ALL WISH WILL OUR BEST. UNFORTUNATELY, THIS IS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE EVENTS THAT SEEMS TO TAKE PLACE TOO OFTEN ACROSS TOO MANY COMMUNITIES IN THIS COUNTRY. AND CONDOLE ENCES ARE ALSO POURING IN FROM AROUND THE STATE AND NATIONWIDE. CONGER OSMAN ZACH NUNN HAS WORKED WITH WILL KEEPS IN THE PAST. THEY ARE FRIENDS. HE CALLED THE ATTACK HORRIFIC AND SAYS HE WILL STAND WITH THE STARTS RIGHT HERE. TEAM KEEPS ALSO WORKED CLOSELY WITH GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS. SHE SAYS, QUOTE, MY HEART BREAKS FOR THEM. THESE KIDS AND THEIR FAMILIES. KEVIN AND I ARE PRAYING FOR THEIR SAFE RECOVERY AND MORE IN PUBLIC SCHOOL. SUPERINTENDENT MAX MATT SMITH SAYS THIS NONPROFIT IS A VALUE VIABLE PARTNER AND 50 AT RISK YOUTH ATTEND THERE. WE WILL CONTINUE TO FOLLOW THIS DEVELOPING STORY. REPORTING LIVE FROM DES MOINES CITY HALL, LAURA TERRE

Second man arrested in Starts Right Here deadly shooting

Updated: 6:11 PM CST Jan 27, 2023

Des Moines police have arrested a second man in connection with the deadly shooting at Starts Right Here that killed two teenagers and seriously injured a well-known rapper and community activist.Police have charged 19-year-old Bravon Michael Tukes with two counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and criminal gang participation. Preston Walls faces those same charges.Police say Walls was at Starts Right Here with a 9mm handgun on Monday (Jan. 23). Will Keeps, a local activist who created Starts Right Here, attempted to escort Walls from the building. But Walls shot both teenage victims, 18-year-old Gionni Dameron and 16-year-old Rashad Carr, and Keeps before running from the scene.Police believe Tukes communicated with Preston Walls before and immediately after the shooting. Investigators say Tukes drove the vehicle that Walls was in after the shooting.Both Tukes and Walls have been identified as members of the same criminal gang, and police say the two committed these crimes with that gang membership.Police have recovered four guns during their investigation. The shooting remains under investigation.

DES MOINES, Iowa —

Des Moines police have arrested a second man in connection with the deadly shooting at Starts Right Here that killed two teenagers and seriously injured a well-known rapper and community activist.

Police have charged 19-year-old Bravon Michael Tukes with two counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and criminal gang participation. Preston Walls faces those same charges.

Police say Walls was at Starts Right Here with a 9mm handgun on Monday (Jan. 23). Will Keeps, a local activist who created Starts Right Here, attempted to escort Walls from the building. But Walls shot both teenage victims, 18-year-old Gionni Dameron and 16-year-old Rashad Carr, and Keeps before running from the scene.

Police believe Tukes communicated with Preston Walls before and immediately after the shooting. Investigators say Tukes drove the vehicle that Walls was in after the shooting.

Both Tukes and Walls have been identified as members of the same criminal gang, and police say the two committed these crimes with that gang membership.

Police have recovered four guns during their investigation.

The shooting remains under investigation.