Man found shot to death in Des Moines church parking lot

A man was found dead in a Des Moines church parking lot early Sunday, one of four shooting victims discovered by police.

Police have identified the victim who died as Ruot Gach, 19, of Carroll.

The slaying is the third fatal shooting in or just outside Des Moines' Beaverdale neighborhood in the past two months.

According to a news release, police and rescue personnel were called at 2:33 a.m. to the parking lot of Zion Lutheran Church, 4300 Beaver Ave. Responders took one shooting victim, Yien Nhial, 27, of Des Moines, to a hospital. Gach was found dead at the scene.

Witnesses told police about a vehicle that might have been involved; after a short pursuit, police found another man shot inside, according to the news release. That man, Simon Joseph, 23, of Des Moines, has also been hospitalized. Police planned to interview the other people in the vehicle.

One firearm has been recovered so far, police said in a 4 p.m. update. 

A fourth man, Tethloach Jack, 28, of Des Moines, showed up at a hospital himself with apparent gunshot wounds, police said.

In the wake of the tragedy, Zion Lutheran Church held service at 9 a.m. as usual. Cars crowded into the parking lot, surrounding the taped-off crime scene with minivans and sedans full of adults and children in their Sunday best. 

The church's lead pastor John Kline addressed the violence in the community as the service began.

"Right now in our city, there's an awful lot of people killing an awful lot of people," Kline said. "What I want to keep in front of us is that fact that what happened this morning early is why we do what we do … We have a heavy responsibility." 

Kline assured the congregation that the church will always be a safe place for them but said the violence is a reminder of why they pray and why they need to continue community outreach. 

"The world is a dangerous place, and Zion is a part of the world," Kline reminded churchgoers. 

Zion member Faith Sherman said she was shocked when she heard about the homicide. 

"When I found out my heart just sank," Sherman said. "Not just because it's close to our church, but just another young life …"

Sheman said Gach's death and Kline's sermon reminded her how important it is to reach out to those who are suffering. 

"You know, we just have to build up with love and care for one another," Sherman said. "You can't just change things, but I guess we have renewed urgency to reach out and care about our neighbors."

Kline told the congregation that an engagement party was held Saturday night before the shooting, but he said he didn't believe it was connected to the incident in the parking lot. 

The Rev. Al Perez, Zion's director of community engagement, said the church already planned to meet with the Des Moines chief of police and other Des Moines pastors Thursday to talk about ways to combat violence in the neighborhood. 

Perez said the meeting will still take place, but with a new level of gravity. 

"For any young person to go down before their time is really hard," Perez said. "But what we're trying to look at here is to continue in our mission. Our mission here is to offer hope to people … We need to communicate more. We want to communicate and serve better our police department, serve our school district and serve our city in tangible ways. We want to continue to be a beacon of hope." 

Interactive: View map of Des Moines homicides since 2015

Kline said the only positive to come from the incident was that it would help bring the community together to pray more and ramp up outreach. 

"There needs to be justice and we also need to look at: Why does this keep happening? Why is that people seek a new identity as a killer? Why? Why is it that the kids don't seem to know what respect is, but they know when they feel disrespected … There is a better way." 

Des Moines had already exceeded the number of homicides it recorded in all of 2016—13 in total. Sunday's is the 15th killing in the city in 2017. Police Chief Dana Wingert has said that loose-knit street gangs have contributed to an uptick in violence, some of it random and affecting bystanders, although many homicides involve people who know each other well.

But as many focus on the violence behind the numbers, Kline told his congregation to focus on faith. 

"A moment like this can either break us or it will spur us on," Kline said. "A moment like this will either bring us into despair or it will give us hope and divine power to change the city. And I think that by now you've got to agree with me that things need to change."