A celebration in Fort Dodge’s Pleasant Valley neighborhood on June 16, 2020, ended when a dispute between two armed groups erupted into a shootout. Tyrone Cunningham, a 47-year-old Black man, was struck by gunfire during the exchange. He managed to get into his vehicle and drive away but lost consciousness from his wounds and crashed at South 15th Street and Sixth Avenue South, where he was pronounced dead. Jamael Cox, 25, was also killed; two women were wounded and survived.

A multiagency investigation over the following months produced arrests. Five men—Michael J. Shivers, James C. Davis Jr., Michael J. Wells, Darrell L. Jones, and Jeremiha R. Hatten—were charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Cunningham and Cox; all but Hatten faced an additional felon-in-possession charge. In October 2021 a Webster County jury found Michael J. Shivers guilty on both murder counts; testimony at trial said Shivers initiated the gunfire.

Does anyone have information about the June 16, 2020 gathering or the people involved that could shed more light on how the violence began?