UPDATE: Des Moines police say that two students were killed in a school shooting at at Starts Right Here, a charter school that works to help at-risk youth in the Des Moines Public Schools. The school is located at 455 Southwest Fifth St. The age of the students is still unknown.

One staff member was also injured during the shooting.

KCCI reports that DSM Police say three people were shot and two students were taken to the hospital with critical injuries. They have since died. The third person, an employee of Starts Right Here, was transported to the hospital in serious condition.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said this in a press release email about the shooting,

"I am shocked and saddened to hear about the shooting at Starts Right Here. I’ve seen first-hand how hard Will Keeps and his staff works to help at-risk kids through this alternative education program. My heart breaks for them, these kids and their families. Kevin and I are praying for their safe recovery.” 

Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Matt Smith issued the following statement:

“We are saddened to learn of another act of gun violence, especially one that impacts an organization that works closely with some of our students. We are still waiting to learn more details, but our thoughts are with any victims of this incident and their families and friends. Starts Right Here is a valuable partner to DMPS, doing important work to help us re-engage students, and we stand by to support them during this critical time.”

According to the DMPS website, Starts Right Here is a community partner of Des Moines Public Schools providing two services:

  • Help re-engage students in the district’s Options Academy credit recovery program
  • Support students who are no longer in a school building due to behavioral issues

They serve 40-50 DMPS students at any given time, with DMPS providing educational programming. This partnership began in 2021.

No DMPS staff were on-site at the time of the shooting.

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Reports out of Des Moines from KCCI say that Des Moines police officers are on the scene of a shooting Monday where multiple people were injured. Two of the injured were students and one was a staff member.

The Des Moines police tell KCCI that the shooting was reported at about 12:53 p.m. at Starts Right Here, a charter school that works to help at-risk youth in the Des Moines Public Schools. The school is located at 455 Southwest Fifth St.

DSM Police tell KCCI that three people were injured. Two people of those people were taken to the hospital with critical injuries. A third person was transported to the hospital in stable condition. Among the injured were two students and one staff member. Reports do not indicate which two were taken to the hospital. The ages of the students are also unknown at this time.

KCCI reports that DSM Police have detained two people but have not confirmed if these arrests are related to the shooting at Starts Right Here.

According to gunviolencearchive.org, there have been 36 mass shootings in the U.S. this year as of January 22nd. That's almost more than double the days that have even occurred in the year 2023 so far.

This story is still developing.

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