Iowa Attorney General’s Office Concludes Des Moines Officers Acted with Legal Justification in Shooting

DES MOINES-In a report issued today, the Iowa Attorney General's Office has concluded that the September 16, 2024, fatal shooting of Joshua Green by three Des Moines police officers was legally justified.

The Attorney General's conclusion was based on a review and investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. The investigation found that on September 16, around 1:40 a.m., two Des Moines police officers stopped Joshua Green for traffic violations, including driving the wrong way on a one-way street and driving with a defective brake light. Green's fiancé, Shawna Cunningham, was in the front passenger-seat. As soon as the officers exited their patrol car to talk to Green, he sped away. A short chase ensued, and a third officer joined for assistance. The officers caught Green in his then-disabled vehicle that he was trying to get "unstuck." Green refused repeated commands by the officers to turn off his vehicle and surrender.

The officers approached Green and warned him that he would be tased if he did not comply. When Green continued not to comply, an officer tased him twice. Both attempts failed. Green even pulled the attached barbs from the taser out of his body. An officer then pulled Green out of the vehicle by the foot that Green had hanging out of the driver's side door. Green fell to the ground, only to quickly sit back up, draw a handgun from his waistband, and started shooting. Until that point, the officers were unaware that Green was armed. Green shot one officer in the arm and another in the head. The officers returned fire, killing Green.

The officer who was shot in the head sustained a life-threatening injury and received emergency surgery. The officer who was shot in the arm was seriously injured, though his injury was not life-threatening. Both have since been discharged from the hospital. Cunningham was charged by federal prosecutors for giving Green a firearm when he was prohibited from possessing one.

The report is issued under the Attorney General's independent authority under Iowa Code section 13.12 to investigate or prosecute conduct of law enforcement that results in death.

A copy of the report is available here.

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For More Information:

Alyssa Brouillet | Communications Director

515-823-9112

[email protected]