Two Iowa police officers were shot and killed in apparent “ambush style” attacks early today, reports the Des Moines Register. Suspect Scott Michael Greene surrendered this morning. Greene, 46, had previous encounters with police officers. He was charged with a simple misdemeanor count of interference with official acts in 2014 when he resisted an attempt by officers to pat him down for weapons at an residence, the Register reports. This morning, police responded to a report of gunfire at an intersection at 1:06 a.m. The first officers arriving on the scene found an officer from suburban Urbandale shot. At 1:26 a.m., a Des Moines police officer was shot and killed near another intersection while responding to the scene where the Urbandale officer was shot. Both officers were gunned down in their patrol cars.
Already wary of officers’ safety, the Des Moines Police Department has paired up its patrol officers so no officer is on patrol alone, said Sgt. Paul Parizek. “There’s literally a clear and present danger if you’re a police officer,” he said. For Des Moines, this is the first police officer shot and killed in the line of duty since two officers were gunned down in separate incidents in 1977.