DES MOINES, Iowa — Authorities have arrested six teenagers in a drive-by shooting that left a 15-year-old boy dead and injured two other teenagers outside a Des Moines high school, according to police.
Police responded to the shooting outside East High School on Monday afternoon. Responding officers found three teenagers, including the 15-year-old boy and two girls, aged 16 and 18, injured near a parking lot.
The boy later died of his injuries. The girls remained hospitalized Tuesday morning with injuries that appeared to be life-threatening, police said.
>> Related: 1 teen dead, 2 critically wounded in shooting outside Iowa high school, police say
Update 3:30 p.m. EST March 8: Police identified the slain teenager to KCCI and the Des Moines Register as Jose David Lopez.
Authorities told KCCI that Lopez was not an East High School student. The two teenager girls injured were students at the school, according to the Register.
Police identified the suspects arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder in Monday afternoon’s shooting as Octavio Lopez, 17; Henry Valladares-Amaya, 17; Manuel Buezo, 16; Romero Perdomo, 16; Alex Perdomo, 15; and Nyang Chamdual, 14, KCCI reported.
Authorities continue to investigate.
Original report: Investigators determined that the slain 15-year-old was targeted in the drive-by, while the injured girls were not.
“While this incident occurred outside of a school, it could have occurred in any one of our neighborhoods,” police said in a news release. “The school is where the suspects found their target.”
Authorities praised school staff for working quickly to put the building on lockdown after shots rang out, which “certainly had a positive impact on safety and scene management.”
Overnight, detectives executed several warrants and recovered multiple firearms, according to police. Six teenagers, who were not identified, have been charged with one count each of first-degree murder and two counts each of attempted murder.
The circumstances leading up to the shooting were not immediately known.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and their friends,” police said. “Please join us in supporting all the families impacted by this incident.”