In the early morning hours of August 28, 1977, patrol officers answered a shots-fired call at Thirteenth Street and Mondamin Avenue in Des Moines. Thirty-year-old Officer Dennis Earl Hill, a five-year veteran of the Des Moines Police Department, was among them. Hill was married with two young children, and had served in Vietnam and the Iowa National Guard; his father had also served on the force.

As Hill and his partner approached the initial shooting victim, a suspect concealed in nearby bushes opened fire with a shotgun, striking Officer Hill in the head. The suspect had reportedly shot two companions earlier that morning after they refused to give him a ride home. An Officer Down call drew additional officers, and a second exchange of gunfire wounded another officer and left the suspect fatally shot.

Anyone who remembers that morning or who has information about Officer Hill is asked to share what they know.