1 shot dead, 7 injured at Iowa biker gathering, say police

Waterloo (US), September 27

Gunfire erupted early Saturday at a gathering of motorcycle clubs in Iowa, killing one person and wounding seven others, authorities said.

About 100 people were at the gathering inside a building in Waterloo when there was “some kind of confrontation shortly after 3 a.m., Joel Fitzgerald, the police chief of the city about 145 kilometers northeast of Des Moines, said at a news conference.

Officers were nearby at a traffic stop when the shooting started, said Capt. Joe Leibold with the Waterloo Police Department.

They arrived to find a chaotic scene, with people hurt and others fleeing the area, and they began administering aid as paramedics and firefighters pulled up.

“It was a pretty dynamic scene,” said Battalion Chief Ben Petersen with Waterloo Fire Rescue.

“Coming into something like that, you are trying to size up the patients and triage the scene.”   

Nearby police officers heard the gunfire and responded within seconds, Fitzgerald said. Eight people had gunshot wounds and one of them later died.       

Four other people were hurt by broken glass or other debris while fleeing.

The gathering wasn’t authorized and investigators were trying to determine who leased the building, Fitzgerald said at a news conference. Investigators are still trying to determine whether there was more than one shooter and no arrests have been made in the shooting.

Leibold said police do not believe it was a random act and the public is not in danger.

Three people were arrested after officers responded to a disorderly conduct call outside the emergency room at MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center, where some of the victims were taken, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported. — AP