How the 'Ambush-Style Attacks' on Police Officers in Iowa Unfolded

The shootings took place minutes apart and a few miles away from each other.

ByABC News
November 2, 2016, 1:03 PM

— -- Separate shootings that killed two police officers this morning took place just minutes apart and a few miles away from each other in central Iowa.

Here's a look at how the tragedy unfolded.

At approximately 1:06 a.m. CT today, officers responded to a report of shots fired in the area of 70th Street and Aurora Avenue in the suburb of Urbandale, a few miles from the capital Des Moines. Officers found an Urbandale police officer who had been fatally shot in his patrol vehicle, police said.

Around 1:26 a.m. CT, officers discovered a Des Moines police officer who had been shot in his squad car at the intersection of Merle Hay Road and Sheridan Drive in Des Moines. The wounded officer was transported to a local hospital where he died, police said.

Police said the shootings appear to have been "ambush-style attacks."

“In all appearances it looks just like that, the officers were ambushed,” Sgt. Paul Parizek of the Des Moines Police Department said at a press conference this morning. “On the surface right now, like I said, we are 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 that while they sat in their cars.”

PHOTO: Law enforcement officials investigate at the scene of a shooting, Nov. 2, 2016, in Urbandale, Iowa.
Law enforcement officials investigate at the scene of a shooting, Nov. 2, 2016, in Urbandale, Iowa. Two Des Moines area police officers were shot to death early Wednesday in ambush-style attacks while they were sitting in their patrol cars, and police are searching for suspects, authorities said.

Shortly before 7 a.m. CT, the Des Moines and Urbandale police departments identified a suspect in the shootings as 46-year-old Urbandale resident Scott Michael Greene, who police said was driving a blue 2011 Ford truck with a silver-colored topper and a ladder rack.

"Greene is believed to be armed and should be considered dangerous," police said in a press release.

Officials launched a statewide manhunt for the suspect. By 9:25 a.m. CT, Greene was located in Dallas County, just west of Des Moines, where he surrendered to the Dallas County Sheriff's Department and the Iowa State Patrol.

Greene had flagged down an official on a rural road near the 100 mile marker of Route 80. He was taken into custody without incident and was being transported to Des Moines. He has not been charged, police said.

Police have closed long stretches of the roads where the officers were found in their vehicles.

Parizek said the Des Moines Police Department has doubled up its officers in the wake of the deadly shootings. He said there is "clearly danger" for police officers in the area right now.

"These guys were gunned down, sitting in their car, doing nothing wrong,” Parizek told reporters during a press conference this morning. “We are very well aware that the society that we are living in right now and the time, there are some not so positive views of law enforcement that a certain segment of our population holds. So we are as vigilant as we can be and still provide the service we need to provide."

ABC News' Rachel Katz, Josh Margolin, Rex Sakamoto, Devil Villacis and Jason Volack contributed to this report.

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