PACIFIC JUNCTION, Iowa (KMTV) — Police responded to a shooting Saturday night when a concert was about to begin. Shots were fired, killing two. The tragic event is being investigated, affecting neighbors in different ways.
- Permanently disabled adults who can work and want to work in Iowa are often limited by income rules for Medicaid recipients in the state. The rules, says a state representative, keep people in poverty.
- "It's like my son and my husband constantly fit a description when it's so vague and it's just, it, we live in fear of, you know, when stuff like that comes out."
- Law enforcement is asking if anyone has any information in regard to the shooting to contact the Mills County Sheriff's Office at 712-527-4871.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
At the I-29 Speedway in Pacific Junction, police responded to a shooting Saturday night. Law enforcement says a concert was about to begin when shots were fired, killing two. The tragic event is still being investigated and affecting neighbors in different ways.
Police responded to a call at around 9:00 p.m. Saturday night, where two men, Marcus Johnson and Charles Williams Jr., died.
Several law enforcement agencies are helping the Mills County Sheriff's Office investigate this ongoing case as the suspects have yet to be identified.
"Well, shock first, right? You think like this is happening two to three miles away from where I live. Second is hoping that everyone is okay."
Christina Duran learned of this shooting at around 10 pm Saturday night, scrolling on social media.
And while no law enforcement agencies have posted describing the suspects, other accounts have.
"You know it was three Black men with dreads, maybe three Black men with dreads in a Mercedes and then later came out maybe in a Yukon," Duran said.
As a Glenwood City Councilperson, Christina wants others to know the effects these descriptions can have on people.
Not just as a representative for her community but from personal experience.
"It's like my son and my husband constantly fit a description when it's so vague and it's just, it, we live in fear of, you know, when stuff like that comes out," she said.
Christina's husband and son are both Black with dreadlocks and while they were safe at home that night: “From the public perspective and I understand that you want to get information out but there are Black men with dreads out there that could be pulled over, could be all of these things and are perfectly innocent but it's now up to them to prove that they're innocent."
Christina says she doesn't want her family to have to live in fear for the simple fact of being Black.
And that when something tragic and scary like this happens, words really do matter.
"I don't think any of it is intentional, but it doesn't necessarily make it less hurtful,” said Duran. “The encouraging thing to me, though, is that's about education. Our words matter the way that we put things out matter and that it has a real impact on people."
Law enforcement is asking if anyone has any information in regard to the shooting to contact the Mills County Sheriff's Office at 712-527-4871.
