Le Mars, Iowa — A Le Mars man has died, the apparent victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, after he fired shots at officers at his home.
The Le Mars Police department reports that at about 9:35 p.m. on Thursday evening, they attempted to carry out a search warrant at 1215 7th Avenue Southeast in reference to an investigation. After officers knocked on the door, they heard gunshots and breaking glass and realized the suspect had shot at them.
At that point, they backed off and set up a perimiter. Several neighborhood residents were evacuated. One neighbor said that a bullet entered their home and lodged in a bed’s headboard.
The Combined Emergency Response Team or “CERT” was called in, which consists of members of the Plymouth, Sioux, and Cherokee county sheriffs’ offices and the Le Mars and Cherokee Police Departments. Officers tell us that several failed attempts to make contact with the suspect were made. They say the CERT team entered the home around 3:00 a.m. and found the subject deceased from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. They tell us that at no time during the incident did any officer fire a weapon.
They say the situation remains under investigation by the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI).
