Oscar Matthew Marquez Jr., 34, was fatally wounded during an exchange of gunfire in downtown Des Moines shortly after bars closed in the Court Avenue Entertainment District on September 15, 2024. Officers on foot patrol heard shots at about 2:06 a.m. and found three men with gunshot wounds in the 200 block of Water Street. Dennis Morris Hawkins Jr. was pronounced dead at the scene; Marquez and a third man were taken to hospitals. Marquez later died of his injuries; the third person was released and continued recovering at home.

Investigators recovered three firearms and concluded the shooting grew out of a verbal dispute among the three men, with no signs of outside participants. Police did not publicly identify who fired which weapon, who shot first, or which person’s fire caused Marquez’s or Hawkins’ fatal wounds. No arrest or public criminal charge had been announced in connection with Marquez’s death. If anyone has information about the events on Water Street that night, please come forward.