Early Wednesday, tragic news out of Urbandale, Iowa, emerged that two police officers were ambushed and killed in their patrol cars two miles apart by a lone gunman later identified as 46-year-old Scott Michael Greene.
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A manhunt for Greene ended around 9:30 a.m., when, 35 miles away from the shooting site, he encountered an Iowa Department of Natural Resources employee, flashed his ID and asked the employee to call 911, The Des Moines Register reported.
The two deceased police officers have been identified as Urbandale Officer Justin Martin, on the force since August 2015, and Des Moines police Sgt. Anthony Beminio, an 11-year veteran of the department.
Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said Wednesday at a press conference that it didn’t appear “there was any interaction between these officers and whoever the coward is who shot them while they sat in their cars.”
Upon his arrest, Greene said he had a “flare-up” with a medical condition and was taken to the hospital.
It is believed Greene fired 15 to 30 rounds into the driver’s side of Officer Martin’s vehicle.
Martin’s faculty adviser told WHO-TV that he was “a kind, gentle, compassionate man, who was always concerned with serving the public.”
“That’s why he went into police work. He was smart and had great social skills. He just had it all,” Jones said.
Sgt. Beminio is survived by his wife and three children.
Urbandale residents have responded by placing flowers on a patrol car in memory of the slain officers.
The Urbandale Police Department has opened two accounts to accept memorial contributions for the deceased.
