33 minutes: Gunshots, fear — and a quick arrest

Pleasant Hill police began the morning of Monday, Nov. 17, knowing it could be a difficult day.

It was, for entirely different reasons than expected.

Over the weekend, online threats had been made against Southeast Polk schools. Pleasant Hill is home to the district's high school and junior high. The threats had prompted stepped-up security and a partial lockdown.

At 6:32 a.m., the Polk County Dispatch Center received its first report from Pleasant Hill that someone had been shot. About three minutes later, a report of another shooting came in. And then another. By 7:05 a.m., a suspect was in custody.

Within that 33-minute span — in which two people were seriously wounded — personnel from eight agencies worked together to dispatch information, aid victims, secure crime scenes, interview witnesses and apprehend a suspect.

Authorities credit the coordinated response for the suspect's quick apprehension.

MORE COVERAGE: 'I've been shot,' wife hears in phone call | Finney: The hope is in the helpers after shootings

One of Pleasant Hill's ambulances was out of commission for maintenance, so Altoona sent one. Altoona police secured one of the crime scenes. The Iowa State Patrol apprehended the suspect. Two Polk County assistant attorneys wrote search warrants and gave legal guidance. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation's crime scene technicians gathered evidence at five locations.

"One (shooting scene) would overwhelm a lot of agencies our size, but to have four scenes was definitely overwhelming," Pleasant Hill Police Chief Tim Sittig said of the three shooting scenes and the police presence in the schools. His force includes 10 patrol officers, two of whom were on duty that morning.

"Jurisdictions just blend together and everyone comes together," he said.

6:32 a.m.

Polk County dispatcher: We just had a shooting … in Pleasant Hill. Have a report of a male victim shot in the stomach there. Suspect's vehicle is possibly a Blazer. Unknown color. Unknown direction of travel ... This caller is saying he was shot in the chest now. And just kick in the door when you arrive. He can't get to the door.

Pleasant Hill, in eastern Polk County, is home to more than 9,000 residents, most of whom commute to work. Most families send their children to Southeast Polk schools. The town boasts two grocery stores, several churches, spacious parks and a well-used recreation trail.

Violent crime is a rarity.

"For something like that to start happening in neighborhood streets is most surprising," said Tom Solberg, who was hired in February as Pleasant Hill's first paid fire chief. He worked for 30 years in Lee's Summit, a Kansas City, Mo., suburb where drive-by shootings have occasionally occurred.

Mark Mitchell, the first victim, had gone outside to start his vehicle, according to dispatch traffic. Witnesses, who described hearing two or three gunshots, told police the suspect was out of his vehicle when he fired shots toward Mitchell. Multiple shell casings were found in the street outside Mitchell's home, according to the police report. When police arrived, Mitchell's vehicle was in the driveway, running.

RELATED: Pleasant Hill shooting victims identified | Teen recalls nearly being hit during Pleasant Hill shootings

Officer Kevin Gott, who has worked for Pleasant Hill police for six years, had just started his shift when he heard about the first shooting. He headed to the scene and initially didn't see anything unusual.

As he was getting ready to knock on the front door, he heard radio traffic about the second shooting.

"I thought the calls might be a prank and maybe tied to what was going on with Southeast Polk," Gott said. That thought quickly changed when he entered the house and saw Mitchell lying on the floor with a gunshot wound.

Mitchell, who remained hospitalized late last week, provided a description of the vehicle and suspect.

An officer from another department, who had been at Southeast Polk High School, arrived and helped secure the scene and take witness statements.

Gott's takeaway from the day?

"You don't have to worry about other departments; they came right away," Gott said. "We knew people would help, but to see it in action, that's something different … . We know if something like this happens again … we won't be in it alone."

Meanwhile, at the Polk County Dispatch Center, a shift change was underway, which begins with roll call at 6:30 a.m. for the day crew. An announcement over the intercom about the shootings interrupted it.

The four dispatchers quickly joined the four-member overnight crew, taking over routine calls so the first team could concentrate on dispatching paramedics, fire and law enforcement officers to the three sites and relay suspect information to various agencies.

"Just because something big is going on doesn't mean the other calls stop coming in," said Charity Chambers, a dispatcher with 13¹/₂ years of experience. "We just sat down and began helping the other four that were there."

The dispatch center was flooded with calls not only about the three shootings, but also from parents concerned about the safety of their children, some of whom had already headed to school. Other callers asked about possible connections to the online threats to Southeast Polk schools.

Dispatchers didn't have information to share with the callers.

"There was a little bit of a sense of dread that maybe they were making good on these online threats," said Chris Brodeur, who works the overnight shift and has 22 years of dispatcher experience. "We didn't know the age of the victims. That's all we could think of, that it was related to these school threats."

But dispatchers, the front-line response team in emergencies, had no time to dwell on the whys of what was occurring.

"Our job is to get the most accurate information we can and relay it as quickly as we can," Brodeur said.

6:35 a.m.

Polk County dispatcher: Suspect's vehicle may be a red Blazer… Possibly northbound from the 81 mile marker on Highway 65.

Over a 10- to 12-minute period, three different descriptions of the suspect's vehicle were relayed to dispatchers. One officer saw a red SUV turn onto Highway 65's on-ramp from a street that connected near the site of the first shooting. He followed it. Reports from witnesses described the suspect's vehicle as cream-colored, red or green. At one point, officers thought two vehicles might be involved.

But as more witnesses were interviewed, a common description emerged: a green, 1990s-model Ford Explorer.

6:36 a.m.

Polk County dispatcher: We've got a second shooting now ...

Zach Whitehill, 24, had just gotten out of his truck to clean ice off a windshield blade when someone drove by and fired three shots. Whitehill said he remembers falling to the ground and seeing an Explorer drive off. He was able to tell police the vehicle's make, model and color.

Whitehill, who was shot twice in the back, spent 14 days in the hospital.

6:53 a.m.

Polk County dispatcher: The latest one is at … Fountain Crest. It's a green, late '80s or early '90s SUV … Northbound on that street — Fountain Crest and then somewhere on Easton. … Don't know if it went westbound into Des Moines or eastbound further into the county.

Matthew Stephenson had stopped at his son's grandparents' house to drop off a backpack. Stephenson ducked behind his vehicle when someone began shooting at him, he told police.

Altoona Sgt. Ken Dales, who responded to the call, saw four spent shell casings in the street near Stephenson's vehicle, according to the police report. Stephenson described the vehicle and its driver, which Dales relayed to Polk County dispatch.

The shootings occurred when Altoona police shifts were changing, too, Chief Jody Matherly said. That meant within a short period, Altoona had 16 of its 24 sworn officers working, several of whom were either in Pleasant Hill or at a Southeast Polk facility.

"We're not going to go and assist someone unless they or dispatch ask," Matherly said. "But with everything that was going on, dispatch was asking for additional cars, and we had people available. Having those layers of cooperation is a good thing."

7:03 a.m.

An Iowa State Patrol trooper spots a green Ford Explorer at a stop sign on Northeast 52nd Court, which intersects with Northeast 23rd Avenue. The Explorer turns onto Northeast 23rd and heads west. Another trooper follows.

State Patrol dispatcher: My troopers are at a dead end that is south on 45th Court off of 23rd Avenue. We have a green Ford Explorer. Male driver in an orange sweatshirt. We're at a dead end now. Attempting contact …

The suspect's father lives in the 2800 block of Northeast 52nd Court, just up the road from where Trooper Brian Moses saw the Explorer sitting at the stop sign. At about the same time that Moses saw the SUV, he heard dispatchers give a description of the vehicle being sought in the shootings, Sittig said.

The troopers "just happened to be on the road in that area," Sittig said. The trooper "kind of double takes — that's the car!"

The Explorer turned onto a street with no outlets, then turned around and passed the trooper. "The guy drives by with a straight-ahead 'if I don't see you, you don't see me' look, and the trooper knows he has to stop the guy and pull him over," Sittig said.

The second trooper who had been following the Explorer turned onto Northeast 45th Court and positioned his vehicle so that the Explorer couldn't pass.

The suspect, Peter Jason Polson, 32, didn't resist arrest, Sittig said.

Troopers found a gun holster on the passenger seat of the vehicle, according to the police report. A firearm was found in a nearby ditch.

Requests to interview the troopers involved in the arrest were declined.

No connections have been found between Polson and the victims, police have said. Polson, who faces two charges of attempted murder and nine others, is being held in the Polk County Jail.

Polson wouldn't have been apprehended as quickly "if we had not had the pool of resources we did," Sittig said. "If it was just our department, we might still be looking for him."

The online threats to Southeast Polk schools continued through the week of Nov. 17. By week's end, three juveniles were arrested on charges of making threats and are being held in a Polk County juvenile facility. No threats were carried out.

Mayor Sara Kurovski has had time to digest the events of Nov. 17 and remains amazed at the quick apprehension after the shooting spree and how well jurisdictions worked together.

"I've been told at other places, people just stick to their own jurisdictions when something like this happens," she said. "I'm thankful that here, that is not the mentality."

Undertakings like Capitol Crossroads, a regional planning effort, create opportunities for leaders across the metro area to get to know each other, she said. It helps, too, that the area's top public safety leaders meet regularly.

"When you know someone on a personal level, it makes a big difference," she said. "It's an expectation that everyone will pitch in and help wherever they can."

Donate to victims

A silent auction and bake sale is planned from 9 to noon Saturday at the Youth Center in Doanes Park, 4900 Doanes Park Road, Pleasant Hill. Money raised from the event will be given to shooting victim Zach Whitehill to help with medical and other expenses. Donations can also be made at Affinity Credit Union, 475 N.W. Hoffman Lane, Des Moines.

A fund has also been set up for shooting victim Mark Mitchell. Donations can be made at any Wells Fargo Bank or Community Choice Credit Union. Donations should be designated for the "Mark Mitchell Donation Fund."