DES MOINES, IOWA (March 31, 2025) — In a report issued today, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office has concluded that the February 6, 2025, fatal shooting of David Leroy Kintz Jr, 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 February 6, narcotics officers surveilled a woman’s vehicle as part of a drug investigation. When the woman parked the vehicle at a gas station, a masked man exited the passenger’s seat with a duffle bag and left on foot. The officers requested that patrol officers make contact with the man. Two officers responded in separate vehicles. The first officer to arrive asked the man, later identified as Kintz, to take his hands out of his pockets.
Kintz complied.
The officer told Kintz that they had received a call about a suspicious man in the area with a mask. Kintz responded that he had COVID and offered to let the officer search his bag. The second officer then arrived. Kintz set his bag on the ground and put his hands back in his sweatshirt, saying it was “freezing.” An officer reminded Kintz to keep his hands out of his pockets and then informed Kintz that he was going to have to check his pocket contents. The officer felt a long, slim object in one of the pockets, which Kintz indicated was a screwdriver. Kintz then grabbed the full-sized screwdriver from his pocket, held it above his head, and lunged at the officer, stabbing at the officer’s head and neck. The officer drew his firearm as he backed up, and both officers opened fire.
Kintz collapsed but was alert and communicating as the officers handcuffed him. They immediately called for an ambulance and provided medical care. Kintz later died at the hospital.
At the time of the incident, Kintz had a warrant out for his arrest for a parole violation. He told his family that he refused to go back to prison and that if law enforcement stopped him, he would stab them and “make them kill me.” Kintz was an immediate and deadly threat to the community, and especially the officers, as he violently stabbed at an officer’s head and neck.
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.
