CHICAGO: The suspect in the ambush-style shootings of two police officers has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, officials in the US state of Iowa said on Thursday.
Scott Michael Greene was arrested and taken to jail wearing the handcuffs carried by the two slain officers, the Des Moines Police Department said in a statement.
“The investigation has produced probable cause to support these charges,” the department said, declining to offer additional information.
Anthony Beminio, 39, an 11-year veteran of the Des Moines police department, and Justin Martin, 24, who had served one year on the police force in nearby Urbandale, Iowa were ambushed Wednesday while patrolling in their cars, authorities said.
Martin was found dead just after 1:00 am (0600 GMT) near an Urbandale local high school. Twenty minutes later, Beminio was discovered gunned down at a nearby intersection.
Greene turned himself in several hours later to authorities. Officials have declined to comment on a possible motive, but said Greene has a history of run-ins with the law.
The Iowa shootings follow a tense summer in which five police officers were fatally shot in Dallas, Texas and three killed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The killings were apparent retribution for a string of high-profile police shootings of black citizens which inflamed racial tensions in the United States.
