2 Iowa police officers killed in ‘ambush-style attacks’

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By BNO NEWS

Two police officers have been killed after coming under fire in apparent “ambush-style attacks” in and near the city of Des Moines in Iowa, officials say. A suspect has been taken into custody after an hours-long manhunt.

The attacks began at around 1:06 a.m. CT on Wednesday when officers responded to a report of shots fired near 70th Street and Aurora Avenue in Urbandale. Upon arrival, officers found an Urbandale police officer who had been shot and killed.

About 20 minutes later, a Des Moines police officer who responded to assist was found shot and killed at the intersection of Merle Hay Road and Sheridan Drive in Des Moines. Both scenes are a few miles apart and are both near Merle Hay Mall.

“On the surface right now, we’re just a few hours into this, it doesn’t look like there was any interaction between these officers and whoever the coward is who shot them while they sat in their cars,” said Des Moines police spokesman Sgt. Paul Parizek, describing the shootings as “ambush-style attacks.”

The suspect has since been identified as 45-year-old Scott Michael Greene (pictured above). He was arrested in the city of Red Field in Dallas County, about 30 miles west of Des Moines, at about 10 a.m. CT. The arrest was made after someone recognized Greene and called 911.

Details about a motive were not immediately released, but Greene had posted videos on YouTube in recent weeks. In one video, Greene argued with police officers after being removed from an event at Urbandale High School for displaying a Confederate flag.

In the video, Greene told the police officers that he had been assaulted by people in the crowd and had his flag stolen. “This is an assault on a person exercising his constitution rights on free speech!”, Greene said in the video’s description.

The victims of Wednesday’s shooting were identified as Des Moines Police Sgt. Anthony “Tony” Beminio and Urbandale Police Officer Justin Martin.

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