Des Moines Police shot and killed a man who was suspected of being involved in a “violent home invasion robbery” early this morning. It happened at 1:40 a.m. in a neighborhood just southeast of the Drake University campus.
Des Moines Police Sergeant Steve Woody says two officers were sent to the area and immediately spotted the two men who were identified as being involved in the robbery. “When officers jumped out of their cars and tried to get the men to stop, one made overt actions and the officers could see what looked like a weapon in his hand and the officers knew that they had weapons,” Woody said.
“At that point, the officers opened fire on one of the subjects, striking him at least once. He collapsed a short distance away and was taken to a local hospital where he died.” The man who was killed is identified as 57-year-old Larry Hawkins.
The other suspect, 52-year-old Michael Eugene Walker, was taken into custody without any further incident. The two people in the home at the time of the robbery said the suspects hit them with their handguns.
“They’d both been beat around the head area…they had cuts and bruises and were bleeding pretty good from the head,” Woody said. Both victims were treated and released from a hospital. They apparently knew the two men who broke into their home.
“I think there was a passing relationship,” Woody said. “I believe the suspects had lived in the area and the caller was able to identify them by name when she called us.” Walker is in the Polk County Jail and is facing several charges, including burglary and assault causing injury while participating in a felony.
The officers involved in the shooting are identified as Theodore Stroope, a 9-year veteran of the Des Moines Police Department, and Jacob Hedlund, a 6-year veteran. They’ve been placed on paid administrative leave under the department’s standard procedure in a shooting while the Iowa DCI investigates.