Court documents reveal new details in deadly shooting at Des Moines youth outreach center
The man accused of killing two students and seriously injuring a staff member at a Des Moines youth outreach center shot each victim multiple times, according to newly released court documents.
Eighteen-year-old Preston Walls, of West Des Moines, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of criminal gang participation. The other two people detained by police have been released without charges.
Police say Walls is a known member of a criminal street gang. Investigators say he entered a common area of Starts Right Here, located at 455 Southwest 5th St.
At that time, Starts Right Here founder Will Keeps approached Walls and attempted to escort him out. But Walls was able to pull away and showed a handgun.
Next, Walls shot the two students, aged 18 and 16 years old, multiple times. He chased down one of the victims and shot him repeatedly, according to court documents.
Both victims were also known to be part of an opposing criminal street gang, according to court documents.
Walls left the scene and was located by police a short time later in a brush pile on the city's south side.
Keeps, who was shot multiple times, remains in serious condition with life-threatening injuries, according to police.
Police say Walls was on active probation for failure to affix a drug tax stamp and possession of a controlled substance. He was confirmed to be on pretrial release with supervision for interference with official acts — armed with a firearm and public intoxication.
Police say Walls cut off an ankle monitor, which he was required to wear, about 16 minutes before the shooting.
According to police, the motive for the killings was a result of an ongoing gang-related dispute.
Police say the shooting was captured on security video.
The crime remains under investigation.