Two police officers were shot and killed early Wednesday in a pair of ambush-style attacks in the Des Moines, Iowa, area.
>> Related: Police: 2 Iowa officers shot, killed in ambush-style
Authorities have identified a suspect in the case, although they have not said why the man is suspected of opening fire on the officers. They were killed as they sat in their patrol cars at two separate scenes, Des Moines police said.
Here are five things to know:
1. The officers appear to have been ambushed, Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek said at an emotional news conference.
"It doesn't look like there was any interaction between these officers and whoever the coward is that shot them while they sat in their cars," Parizek said. "These guys were gunned down sitting in their car(s), doing nothing wrong so there's definitely some danger out there. There's somebody out there shooting police officers. We hope we find him before anybody else gets hurt."
2. Authorities did not immediately identify the officers, citing the need to notify their families. One of the officers worked for the Urbandale Police Department. He was found shot and killed in his patrol car when police responded to a report of shots fired around 1:05 a.m. CT.
The second officer worked for the Des Moines Police Department. He was found shot in his patrol car at an intersection about two miles from the scene of the Urbandale officer shooting. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died.
3. Des Moines police identified the man suspected of shooting the officers as Scott Michael Green, 46, according to the Des Moines Register.
Greene is 5 feet 11 inches tall and 160 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. He was last known to be driving a blue Ford F-150 with Iowa license plate 780 YFR.
He is considered armed and dangerous. Police encouraged anyone who spots Greene to call 911 and report his location instead of approaching him.
4. Urbandale officers are equipped with body cameras, Urbandale Sgt. Chad Underwood said. However, it was not immediately clear whether the shootings were caught on camera.
5. The Des Moines officer was the first killed by gunfire since August 1977, when Officer Dennis Earl Hill was killed while responding to a report of shots fired, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. The page tracks reports of law enforcement deaths across the country.
No Urbandale officers have died in the line of duty, according to the Memorial Page.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
WSBTV
