On the late afternoon of March 7, 2022, gunfire broke out outside East High School in Des Moines just as classes were ending. Fifteen-year-old Jose David López Pérez, a Hispanic male who was not a student at the school, was fatally wounded. Two female students were also critically injured in the same attack.

Investigators determined the shots came from at least three different vehicles and recovered numerous shell casings. Within hours, Des Moines police with federal assistance began making arrests; six male teenagers aged 14 to 17 were initially charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. The total number of teenagers charged in connection with the shooting later grew to ten.

Named as among those charged were Octavio Lopez, 17; Nyang Chamdual, 14; Manuel Buezo, 16; Romero Perdomo, 16; Alex Perdomo, 15; Henry Valladares-Amaya, 17; Gumaro Marquez-Jacobo, 18; Kevin Isidro Martinez, 16; Braulio Hernandez-Salas, 17; and Daniel Hernandez, 17. Police described the shooting as a targeted attack tied to an ongoing conflict between rival Hispanic gangs.

Did anyone witness activity near East High that afternoon or have information about the vehicles involved?