Police arrested six teenagers in connection with a drive-by shooting outside an Iowa high school that left one dead and two critically wounded, officials said Tuesday.
A 15-year-old boy was killed and two female students, 16 and 18, at East High School in Des Moines are still in critical condition following Monday's gunfire, police said.
All of the suspects are Des Moines residents, police said, and each has been booked on suspicion of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. The youngest is 14. The oldest is 17.
While authorities identified the suspects, NBC News does not usually name minors charged with a crime, even those charged as adults.
“Detectives quickly learned that this was a drive-by shooting, and the deceased victim was the intended target,” according to a Des Moines police statement on Tuesday.
East High School was, in no way, meant to be a target of the alleged shooters, officials said.
“While this incident occurred outside of a school, it could have occurred in any one of our neighborhoods,” the police statement said. “The school is where the suspects found their target.”
The gunfire on Monday came from "multiple shooters, from multiple vehicles," investigators said.
Des Moines detectives have so far served at least five residential search warrants and six search warrants for cars, leading to the recovery of six firearms, police said.
It wasn't immediately clear if the suspects had retained or been assigned defense lawyers by Tuesday morning. Representatives of the State Public Defender could not be immediately reached for comment.
Police and firefighters responded at 2:48 p.m. Monday to East High School where they found the wounded teenagers, officials said. All three were on East High School grounds but not within any buildings, police said.
The slain 15-year-old was not an East student.
Classes at the school were canceled on Tuesday.
