Two Des Moines police officers who shot and killed a man in a wheelchair they said pointed a gun at them were justified in using lethal force, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office has concluded.
A report Friday said the office determined Senior Officers Larry Herzog, 24,and Christian Bishop, 25, who had been on paid administrative assignment since the Nov. 26 shooting, “were legally justified and that criminal charges are unwarranted,” adding that it “considers the criminal investigation into this incident to be closed.”
Receptionist calls 911; woman tells police residents could be in danger
Des Moines Police investigate a shooting outside the Elsie Mason Manor in downtown Des Moines, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024.
The report, released under the names of Attorney General Brenna Bird and Keisha F. Cretsinger, statewide prosecution section chief. said the encounter that led to the shooting at the Elsie Mason Manor, a residence for low-income seniors with disabilities at 430 Grand Ave. in downtown Des Moines, began with a call to 911 around 6:05 a.m. by the receptionist there.
The receptionist, Venus Reed, didn’t talk directly to the dispatcher, but was heard saying “please don’t shoot.”
A second person, Kelly Connor, called 911 shortly after and said a man, known to her as Charlie and later identified as Charles Leonard III, was in the lobby pointing a gun at Reed.
Police arrived and were able to observe Leonard, who was in his wheelchair, through a window. Officers said Herzog had what appeared to be a handgun.
Connor, who had been on the phone with dispatchers, emerged from the building and said that while the receptionist was in a safe place, she was concerned residents would soon be coming in and out of the lobby and that she was concerned for their safety.
How the shooting occurred
Herzog and Bishop could see that Leonard was pointing his gun at the ceiling, with his elbow resting on the wheelchair. The report said they made eye contact with Leonard but that he made no attempt to communicate with them. Bishop turned on his weapon-mounted flashlight and pointed it at Leonard, who then lowered his gun and pointed it directly at Bishop and Herzog, the report said
The officers opened fire. The report said Leonard died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds.
Witnesses: Leonard wanted police to kill him
According to the report, witnesses interviewed after the shooting said Leonard had struggled for years with mental health issues and addiction, and that in the weeks leading the shooting, he had given up his methadone treatment and experienced a decline in his mental health.
Staff at the Elsie Mason Manor and relatives of Leonard said he had been suicidal for years, and Reed said he had told her when he pulled the gun that he wanted the police to kill him and that “I don’t care anymore,” the report said.
He made a similar statement to Connor, who tried to talk with him, the report said.
Report’s conclusion: Officers ‘had no other choice’
Recovered at the scene, the gun turned out to be a Beretta replica soft-air pistol, missing the orange tip on the barrel that would identify it as an air gun, the report said. It said that without the tip, the gun looked like a real firearm.
It said the two officers, who had been with the force since 2022, knew Leonard had been holding innocent people at gunpoint and that residents would likely start passing through the lobby soon. When he pointed the gun at them, it said, he left them “with no other choice but to respond with deadly force.”
Register staff writer José Mendiola contributed to this report.
Kyle Werner is a reporter for the Register. Reach him at kwerner@dmreg.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Attorney General’s Office: DMPD shooting of Charles Leonard justified