NEWS

'I've been shot,' wife hears in phone call

Kathy A. Bolten
kbolten@dmreg.com
Zach Whitehill looks out the sliding glass door with his son, Gage, inside their home on Wednesday in Pleasant Hill. Whitehill was a victim in a random shooting spree in Pleasant Hill last month.

Ashley Whitehill thought it odd when she saw the call on her cell phone from her husband, Zach, who had just left for work.

"I've been shot in the back. Go to the hospital," the voice on the phone said the fateful morning of Nov. 17.

Whitehill, 25, thought someone was playing a joke on her. "It didn't sound like him," she recalled in an interview with The Des Moines Register. "You don't expect your 24-year-old husband to call you at 6:30 in the morning and say he's been shot."

What Whitehill didn't know was that a man was driving through the Des Moines suburb of Pleasant Hill, randomly shooting people. Her husband was the second victim in a 12-minute spree.

Whitehill tried calling her husband back, but no one answered. Dread and fear mounted as she called her Zach's parents, grabbed the couple's 18-month-old son and raced out the door.

Zach Whitehill talks about the recovery ahead after being shot randomly recently in Pleasant Hill, seen here inside his home on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014, in Pleasant Hill, Iowa. Zach Whitehill was one of two victims of a random shooting in Pleasant Hill recently.

Within a couple of minutes, she was on Sherrylynn Boulevard. There was Zach's work truck parked next to the curb. Zach was lying on the ground next to it.

"I started freaking out," Ashley recalled.

Zach Whitehill would spend 14 days in the hospital.

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The gunman's first victim was also severely injured.

Around 6:30 a.m., Mark Mitchell was shot outside his Pleasant Hill home, less than a mile east of where Whitehill was shot. Mitchell, who couldn't be reached for comment, remains hospitalized.

A third man escaped injury when the gunman fired several shots in his direction.

Shortly after 7 a.m., state troopers apprehended Pete Jason Polson, 32, who faces several charges, including two of attempted murder.

Couple had just moved to town

Zach Whitehill grew up in Norwalk; Ashley on Des Moines' south side. The two met on "fight night" at a West Des Moines bar. They married 21/2 years ago, and Gage, their son, arrived a year later. Until early November, they lived in Hartford.

When they started looking for a larger home, Zach thought the family might end up living in a country setting. Instead, they found a house on a Pleasant Hill cul-de-sac. The back yard was fenced in, perfect for Gage, as well as their dogs, Ella and Mya. They liked the neighborly atmosphere.

"For (Gage) growing up, it's better to live in the town and go out and play with his friends rather than have them live a quarter mile down the road," Zach said.

They moved into their new home on Nov. 6, and spent the next 10 days unpacking, painting and removing a rooster-print wallpaper from the kitchen. Zach, with help from his dad, spent the weekend before the shooting installing new light fixtures.

Nov. 17 began like a typical weekday for the Whitehills. Zach got up around 6 a.m., dressed, made coffee and went outside and started his work truck. When he returned inside, he fixed four toaster waffles to eat on his drive to work and got his coffee. Around 6:30 a.m., he headed to work at Hallett Materials.

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The morning was cold, with temperatures in the mid-teens. As Zach was driving, he noticed ice begin to build up on the truck's windshield blades. He turned onto Sherrylynn Boulevard, pulled the truck next to the curb, and got out.

"As soon as I reached up to grab the windshield wiper, the guy drove behind me and shot me," Zach said.

Three shots came from a forest green Ford Explorer. One bullet entered the back of Zach's neck and exited through his left shoulder blade. A second bullet entered his back, about an inch from his spine and exited near his right armpit. A third bullet missed him.

Zach said he heard the shots, but initially didn't feel any pain. He remembers falling to the ground and seeing his cell phone next to him.

"I picked it up and instantly called" Ashley, he said.

Bullets miss hitting major artery, spine

Renee Creger, 20, and her older brother saw Zach fall.

"We went outside and the guy was going to the ground," Creger said on the day of the shooting. "We grabbed towels and blankets to keep him warm until police came."

Someone called 911. Ashley and Gage arrived.

Zach Whitehill and his wife Ashley pose for a picture with their son Gage inside their home on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014, in Pleasant Hill, Iowa. Zach Whitehill was one of two victims of a random shooting in Pleasant Hill recently.

"I didn't know what condition he was in," said Ashley, a nurse who began working for Iowa Home Care a week before the shooting. "I felt like I could lose my husband at any moment."

Ashley's nursing instincts kicked in, but a dispatcher cautioned her not to touch or move Zach. An eternity seemed to pass as they waited for paramedics to arrive, she said.

At the hospital, Ashley learned just how close she and Gage came to losing Zach. The bullet that went through Zach's neck missed hitting a major artery and vein and his esophagus. The other bullet missed his spine.

Still, Zach's esophagus was badly bruised, and doctors worried it wouldn't heal properly. Zach was in the hospital's critical care unit on a ventilator for several days. Ashley didn't leave his bedside.

Eventually, the couple learned the airway was on the mend.

Next week, Zach will learn more about the damage to his shoulder and whether surgery is needed. His left arm is in a sling, and he's been unable to move it. The immobilized arm keeps him from helping with Gage, picking him up and tossing him in the air and catching him, something father and son did often.

Zach hopes to return to work soon. When that happens, he'll be relegated to light duty for at least six months.

Relatives, friends provide support

Christmas is Ashley's favorite time of year.

Typically well before Thanksgiving, she begins putting up a Christmas tree and decorations.

The shooting "kind of knocked the Christmas spirit out of me," Ashley said.

Thanksgiving was spent at the hospital. Ashley's sister cared for Gage, bringing him to the hospital for visits. Friends sent balloons, flowers and food. Residents they'd never met from different parts of Pleasant Hill sent gift baskets. Friends and family decorated the couple's house with holiday lights and an inflatable snowman.

On Sunday night, Zach was released from the hospital. He'd spent more days there than in his new home.

While he gets a bit nervous when he's alone, he plans to remain in Pleasant Hill and make it his family's home.

"This could have happened to anyone," he said. "I wasn't targeted. I was just there."

Police have not determined a motive for the shootings. Polson, the suspect, is being held in the Polk County Jail on $840,000 bond. A 9-millimeter Ruger handgun was found in a ditch near where he was stopped.

Zach said he's grateful for the support that relatives, friends and strangers have given his family. He wants to meet the people who came to his aid when he was shot, including the woman who put blankets on him, the paramedics and police. It was their kind acts that reinforced that the couple made the right decision when they chose their new home, he said.

"I don't know how people could get through something like this without people there to support them," he said.

Ashley continues to struggle over the randomness of the shooting. Her husband didn't deserve to be shot, she said. "He has such a great outlook on life that makes him the man he is. He sees the positives in things."

Even the shooting.

"I lived," Zach said.

If you want to help

Fundraising efforts are underway to help the victims of the Pleasant Hill shooting.

  • A silent auction and bake sale is planned from 9 to noon on Dec. 13 at the Youth Center in Doanes Park, 4900 Doanes Park Road, Pleasant Hill, to help Zach Whitehill with medical costs 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 Mark Mitchell. Donations can be made at any Wells Fargo Bank or Community Choice Credit Union. Donations should be marked for the "Mark Mitchell Donation Fund."