Charles Leonard Obituary, Death; – Authorities have identified the individual who was armed with a pellet gun during an incident last week, which resulted in Des Moines police officers shooting and fatally wounding him.
The individual, identified as 70-year-old Charles Leonard, resided at the Elsie Apartments situated at 430 Grand Ave. On the morning of Tuesday, November 25, at approximately 6 a.m., he allegedly threatened a woman on the first floor of the building with the weapon before aiming it at the responding officers. According to a news release from the Des Moines police, the pellet gun was missing its orange safety cone.
Two officers discharged their firearms at Leonard, resulting in his death. The officers involved in the incident were also named on Monday. As per a news release from the Des Moines Police Department, they are Senior Police Officer Christian Bishop, who has four years of law enforcement experience and has been with the DMPD since 2022, and Senior Police Officer Lanny Herzog, who has also been with the DMPD since 2022.
Both officers are currently on paid administrative leave, in accordance with departmental policy following a critical or traumatic incident occurring during their duty.
