Le Mars, Iowa — Le Mars Police have identified the two Hy-Vee employees and the man who shot them in an attempted robbery early Sunday morning at the Hy-Vee convenience store in southwest Le Mars.
Le Mars Assistant Police Chief Justin Daale spoke during a late afternoon press conference Tuesday.
Daale says they had a license plate number of the car and were able to get a cellphone signal for Gutierrez. The car was found by South Sioux City police not long after the shootings.
The two women are listed in stable condition. Daale says a nurse and another Hy-Vee employee who was an EMT gave them immediate aid after the shooting and that was key.
Daale says Gutierrez was known by the department for mostly minor run-ins. Police say the results of a toxicology report on Gutierrez’s body won’t be known for a while. Counseling services are still being made available to the Le Mars Hy-Vee employees. Hy-Vee spokesperson, Tina Potthoff, says Sunday’s shooting and attempted robbery was the first shooting incident involving HyVee employees through out their more than 250 stores located in eight different states. Hy-Vee has since re-opened their Le Mars convenience store.
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Original post 6:01am, May 27, 2019
Le Mars, Iowa — Authorities say two women were seriously injured in an attempted robbery at the Le Mars Hy-Vee gas station early Sunday morning and the male suspect shot himself to death in Nebraska.
Le Mars Police Chief Kevin Vande Vegte says at about 6 a.m. Sunday, a man with a gun demanded cash from the store clerks in Le Mars.
The names and the ages of the two Hy-Vee clerks are not being released. Both were taken to a Sioux City hospital and the police chief says the women are in serious but stable condition. Vande Vegte says the male suspect was located at around 8 a.m. Sunday by police in South Sioux City, Nebraska, which is about 35 miles away from Le Mars.
The police chief says the suspect has ties with Le Mars and it does not appear the public is in any danger.
Counselors were sent to meet with Hy-Vee employees. The Hy-Vee convenience store remains closed. A Hy-Vee vice president said like the rest of the Le Mars community, company officials are “shocked and saddened” by the shooting and she said the two employees who were injured were in “our thoughts and prayers.”
