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A4 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 9 March 2022
6 teens arrested in Iowa school shooting that killed 1

By MARGERY A. BECK and The district said in a news
SCOTT McFETRIDGE release that the school was
Associated Press immediately put into lock-
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — down and students were
Authorities arrested six teen- kept inside while police in-
agers accused of shooting vestigated. They were dis-
into a group that had gath- missed around 3:30 p.m. af-
ered outside an Iowa high ter law enforcement gave
school, killing a 15-year-old an all clear.
boy and seriously wound- Principal Jill Versteeg de-
ing two teenage girls, po- scribed what happened
lice said Tuesday. as “everyone’s worst night-
The suspects are each mare” and urged parents
charged with first-degree to “hug your students and
murder and two counts of love them.”
attempted murder in the Officials had already sus-
Monday afternoon shoot- pended classes district-
ing on the grounds of East wide Tuesday so juniors
High School, near Des could take the ACT college
Moines’ downtown, about admissions test. The ACT ex-
a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) ams and parent-teacher
from the Capitol. Police conferences were can-
said gunshots fired outside celed Tuesday at East High
the school came from sev- Police investigate a shooting outside of East High School in in Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday, School. The district also was
eral shooters from multiple March 7, 2022. Associated Press making grief counselors
vehicles. available.
Police named the suspects among a group stand- Police said search warrants shooting site departing an- Superintendent Thomas
as Octavio Lopez, 17; Hen- ing with Lopez when they were conducted at five other site and then return- Ahart said school shootings
ry Valladares-Amaya, 17; were inadvertently shot, Des Moines homes and six ing soon after the shoot- have “become too com-
Manuel Buezo, 16; Romero police said. Police had not vehicles in the hours after ing. The footage showed mon” and said that “real
Perdomo, 16; Alex Perdo- released the surviving vic- the shooting. Investigators individuals that took part in change to gun laws and
mo, 15; and Nyang Cham- tims’ names by Tuesday af- seized six guns during those the shooting, according to access would go a long
dual, 14. All are from Des ternoon. searches, police said. court documents. way to help us.”
Moines and the school dis- Police said the 16-year-old According to court docu- Investigators recovered “Our staff and students,”
trict didn’t identify any as girl remained hospitalized ments, neighborhood about 20 spent shell cas- he said, “are forced to train
attending East. Tuesday in serious condi- camera footage captured ings at the shooting site and for these incidents and the
Police identified the tion, while the 18-year-old the shooting. It showed a found another 15 in the ve- trauma associated with the
15-year-old killed as Jose remained hospitalized in group of five teens gath- hicles that police said were repeated drills and inci-
David Lopez, of Des Moines. critical condition. ered near a curb when used in the shooting. dents will remain with them
Lopez, who was not a stu- “While this incident oc- three vehicles passed by On the day of the shoot- for years to come. It’s unfor-
dent at the school, was curred outside of a school, and then returned, with ing, calls started pouring in tunate that our state and
the intended target of the it could have occurred in people inside firing multiple around 2:50 p.m. Monday, our country have become
drive-by shooting, police any one of our neighbor- shots at the group. shortly before classes were a place where firearms are
said. The other two shot are hoods,” police said. “The Surveillance footage also scheduled to dismiss for the far too easily accessible.”
females, 16 and 18, who school is where the sus- showed vehicles matching day, police spokesman, A motive was not immedi-
both attend East and were pects found their target.” the description from the Sgt. Paul Parizek said. ately known.q

HUD says Texas agency discriminated

in flood relief funding

dents in the Houston area, bipartisan outrage from tive proceedings” or refer
according to a decision by officials and residents in the matter to the U.S. Jus-
the federal housing agency the nation’s fourth-largest tice Department. The letter
that could channel millions city last year when it an- was released Tuesday by a
of dollars of aid to commu- nounced that Houston and housing advocacy group
nities battered by the 2017 Harris County would be that filed a complaint
storm. getting only a small portion against the state agency
The U.S. Department of of the money Texas was last year.
Housing and Urban Devel- awarding as part of an ini- Spokesperson Brittany
opment found that the Tex- tial distribution of federal Eck said Tuesday that the
as General Land Office’s funding, despite the area Texas General Land Of-
distribution process for having suffered the brunt fice is considering litigation

Shirley Ronquillo, a Houston area community activist,points to more than $2 billion in flood of Harvey’s estimated $125 against HUD and accused
an open drainage ditch that is blocked by debris and trash May mitigation funds “caused billion in damage. the federal agency of “po-
27, 2021, in Houston. there to be disproportion- In a Friday letter, HUD liticizing” flood mitigation
Associated Press ately less funding available warned Land Commission- efforts. Bush, a Republican
to benefit minority residents er George P. Bush that if his grandson of former Presi-
HOUSTON (AP) — Texas’ Harvey broke federal law than was available to ben- office does not voluntarily dent George H.W. Bush, is
administration of flood re- by discriminating against efit White residents.” comply with federal law it running for Texas attorney
lief money from Hurricane Black and Hispanic resi- The state agency drew may “initiate administra- general.q