DES MOINES, IOWA (February 27, 2025) — In a report issued today, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office has concluded that the January 24, 2025, fatal shooting of Brandon Mitchell by two Des Moines police officers was legally justified.
The Attorney General’s conclusion was based on a review and investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. The investigation found that on January 24, 2:40PM, a woman called the Des Moines Police Department to report that Brandon Mitchell, a wanted person who had cut off his ankle monitor, was at her neighbor’s house. She feared for her neighbor’s safety given that Mitchell had broken into that neighbor’s house earlier in the month and threatened to kill her.
As officers responded to the residence, they learned that Mitchell had numerous prior felonies, multiple domestic-violence arrests, violent tendencies, and was known to be armed. An officer called the woman back, and she told him that Mitchell was leaving the house. The officers positioned themselves around the residence. One officer saw Mitchell exit through a side door and called for him to show his hands. Mitchell refused and fled back into the house. The homeowner, Mitchell’s girlfriend, then came out the front door as the officers waited for backup. She went back into her home to secure her pets.
When she returned, she told the officers that Mitchell was unwilling to come out and gave the officers permission, as the homeowner, to go in and arrest him.
Officers entered the house with a K-9 and repeatedly commanded that Mitchell come out with his hands up. There was no response. The officers cleared the first floor and then went upstairs, where the K-9 located Mitchell in the crawl space of a bedroom closet. Once an officer spotted Mitchell hiding in the crawl space, he sent his K-9 to get the suspect and backed out of the closet. When the officer re-entered the closet to secure the K-9, Mitchell announced, three times, that he had a gun and motioned toward his waist. The officer quickly retreated from the crawl space.
The two officers in the room took cover. Mitchell then approached the closet door and rose one arm up at an officer in an aiming motion. The officers heard a loud “boom” that sounded like a gunshot, and they opened fire into the closet. One officer changed his position and saw Mitchell crouched down in the closet, again, with one arm pointed at the officers in an aiming motion. The officers fired again. When the officers directed Mitchell to come out, he repeatedly cursed at them and said “Kill me.” They entered the closet with a shield, determined that Mitchell had nothing in his hands, and brought him out for medical attention. Mitchell died from his injuries at a local hospital. Despite Mitchell’s repeated claims to have a gun, no gun was found. The booming noise that the officers interpreted as a gunshot was later determined to have been glass shattering in the closet.
Mitchell made earlier statements that day indicating he had planned for the officers to believe he was armed and that they were in immediate danger. Mitchell’s girlfriend reported that when she previously went into the house to secure her pets, she told him to turn himself in to the police. Mitchell refused, telling her, “They’re going to have to shoot me. I’m not going back to prison.” The officers took the action they believed necessary in the moment to protect themselves and the surrounding community.
The report is issued under the Attorney General’s independent authority under Iowa Code section 13.12 to investigate or prosecute conduct of law enforcement that results in death.
A copy of the report is available here.
