DES MOINES, Iowa [WHO-TV] — Police say a man who sought treatment for a gunshot wound at a Des Moines fire station Wednesday afternoon, likely shot himself and charges are pending in the incident.

Officers with the Des Moines Police Department responded to Des Moines Fire Department Station #4 at 917 University Avenue after a 43-year-old man showed up around 3:00 p.m., suffering from a gunshot wound to the arm. DMPD spokesperson Sgt. Paul Parizek said the man told officials he had been shot in a drive-by shooting in the 1200 block of 9th Street.

Officers did find a scene in the roadway and the investigation led officers to a residence in the 1200 block of 10th Street. Sgt. Parizek said a handgun, which was later determined to be stolen out of Indiana, was located outside the residence.

Investigators found evidence that the drive-by shooting the man claimed was the source of his injury did not occur. The gunshot wound to his arm was likely self-inflicted, said Sgt. Parizek.

Police have learned the man who was injured is a felon and is prohibited from possessing a firearm. He remains hospitalized, but charges are pending.

DMPD has not yet released the man’s name.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) – The Davenport Police Department has opened a death investigation after a body was found in the Mississippi River.

Thursday at approximately 1:03 p.m., the Scott Emergency Communications Center received the report of a body found in the river on the LeClaire Park riverfront, according to a media release from police. Upon arrival, police and fire said they found the body of an adult woman in the river.

The medical examiner investigator indicated the body appeared to have been “in the river for an extended period of time,” according to the media release. An autopsy has been scheduled to determine the identity and cause of death.

This incident remains under investigation, police said.

(Dexter, Iowa) – The Iowa State Patrol has released the identity of a pedestrian who was struck and killed while walking on Interstate 80 south of Dexter in Madison County, Thursday morning. Authorities say there were two pedestrians walking along I-80 westbound near mile marker 98 at around 7-a.m., when one of them – 45-year-old Mandy Wendland, of Omaha, NE – entered the traveled portion of the interstate, into the path of a 2020 Ford Transit van and was struck.

Wendland came to rest in the north ditch west where she was struck. The van, driven by 25-year-old Mercedes Gambrall, of Grimes, stopped on the north shoulder of the west bound lanes, west of the impact site. Mandy Wendland died at the scene.

DAVENPORT, Iowa – A Burlington man was sentenced today (Thursday) to 151 months in federal prison for receiving and distributing child pornography.

According to public court documents, law enforcement received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Edward Allen Billheimer, 64, had uploaded files containing child sexual abuse material. Law enforcement located electronic devices at Billheimer’s Burlington residence and a search of those devices revealed approximately 100 videos and 400 images of child sexual abuse material, including content of toddlers and infants.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Billheimer will be required to serve a five-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Billheimer was also ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution. In addition, Billheimer will be required to register as a sex offender.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Burlington Police Department.

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Fort Dodge man was sentenced today (Thursday) to 20 years in federal prison for attempted enticement of a minor. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa says, according to public court documents, 38-year-old Mitchell Keith Russell initiated a Facebook chat with a person that Russell believed was a 13-year-old Altoona female. For over three weeks in March 2024, Russell engaged the minor in sexually explicit discussion.

Russell repeatedly requested the minor create and send him sexually explicit photos of herself and sent the minor sexually obscene videos. Ultimately, Russell arranged to meet the minor at an Altoona motel to engage in sex acts on March 26. When Russell arrived at the motel, he was arrested by the Altoona detective who had been posing as the 13-year-old Facebook user.

Russell committed this crime while he was a registered sex offender and on state parole. Russell was convicted in 2015 of sexual abuse in the Iowa District Court for Humboldt County, for engaging in a sex act with a 15-year-old minor; Russell was in his late 20s when he abused that minor. Russell was required to register as a sex offender as a result of that conviction.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Russell will be required to serve a seven-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Altoona Police Department.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc. For information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the resources tab.