By Tom Alex, The Des Moines Register (Des Moines, Iowa)
A protective vest was on order for a Des Moines police dog wounded in a gunbattle that left a shooting suspect in critical condition, officers said Wednesday.
Michael Shawn Reyna, 30, was shot several times after he allegedly fired at officers who searched for him Tuesday night in a wooded area in the 3500 block of East Douglas Avenue.
The police dog, Reno, was taken to Iowa State University for treatment of multiple wounds to the chest and legs. Officials said Reno was hit with bullets fired by both Reyna and police.
Reyna was taken to Iowa Methodist Medical Center.
No officers were injured.
“I think we can convincingly say the dog saved the life of at least one officer and maybe both,” Maj. James O’Donnell said. “That’s a very difficult situation for an officer, firing at a suspect while his dog is in there with him.”
O’Donnell said a protective vest ordered for Reno hasn’t arrived. The German shepherd joined the department last year, one of five dogs trained for the patrol section.
Police Sgt. Tony Steverson said the gunbattle involved officers Timothy Nading and Michael McTaggart. Reyna, less than 20 feet from the officers, fired a .45-caliber handgun until it was out of ammunition, Steverson said.
Neighbors had little sympathy for the alleged gunman.
“I hate to say this, but that’s what you get for coming up here and shooting up an apartment building,” said Pamela Dishman of 3560 E. Douglas Ave. “It’s the dog I feel sorry for. I heard a police officer say the dog saved the officers’ lives.”
Dishman was walking to her kitchen about 10 p.m. when her daughter, Jenna, 16, looked out the window and commented that a squad car was parked outside.
Officer Linda Powers was investigating a hit-and-run accident.
At that moment, a bullet ripped through the wall and burrowed into the carpet. Dishman threw open the sliding glass door and yelled to Powers: “Someone is shooting up here.”
A neighbor, Marcos Green, 21, had been shot in the arm, and police were told that the gunman ran into the woods northeast of the building.
Steverson said that Reyna and a friend had gone to the apartment building earlier “after a day of using methamphetamine” and that Reyna “wanted to get some marijuana to help him come down from the methamphetamine.” Reyna confronted Green, police said, and fired a handgun at least twice. Green’s wound was not life-threatening.
Police tracked the suspect to the woods and called repeatedly for him to surrender before warning that that they were about to release a dog, Steverson said.
“Officer Nading shined his flashlight in the direction that Reno was heading and spotted Reyna laying on the ground, pointing a handgun,” Steverson said. Nading and McTaggart repeatedly told Reyna to drop his gun, “but instead he began firing at the officers.”
Police said they believe Reyna was waiting in the woods to ambush the officers. Investigators found a box of .45-caliber ammunition next to the handgun.
Nading and McTaggart will be put on paid leave, as is the case in any police-related shooting, while department officials investigate. The Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation also has been called in.
Charges of attempted murder and shooting at a police dog are pending against Reyna, who was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm in 1997. He was convicted of escape in 2000 and interference with official acts in 2003.