CLEARFIELD, Iowa (WOWT) – Authorities in Taylor County, Iowa, are investigating after a 19-year-old man was shot and killed early Thursday morning.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations reports Taylor County dispatchers received several shooting calls around 3:20 a.m. Deputies responded to Bootleggers Bar and Grill on Broadway Street in the town of Clearfield. A male victim was found unresponsive on the ground with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head.

The reporting deputy alleges in an arrest affidavit he saw a man later identified as the suspect standing against an SUV near the victim’s body. He allegedly admitted to being the shooter; the deputy then detained him and transported him to the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office. Along with several witnesses at the scene telling deputies they watched the suspect shoot and kill the victim, he admitted to a DCI agent he had killed 19-year-old Colby Nelson of Lenox. It was revealed the two men had a disagreement in the bar earlier that night, which escalated to an argument when the shooter tried to leave.

The suspect, identified as Alan Schultz, 37, of Bedford, left the bar on his motorcycle before returning with a loaded handgun in a different vehicle. Schultz then allegedly confronted Nelson twice before shooting him in the face, unloading his handgun and waiting for deputies to arrive. He was booked into the Taylor County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder.

A forensic autopsy will be performed on Nelson’s body by the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny.

The investigation is ongoing, and the Iowa DCI does not plan to release further information at this time.

Copyright 2024 WOWT. All rights reserved.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Iowans will want to check before heading to their favorite state parks and beaches this 4th of July holiday.

The Iowa DNR says flooding and higher levels of bacteria are impacting several parks and beaches, including some in eastern Iowa.

In Black Hawk County, George Wyth State Park will be closed until at least July 9th because of flooding on the Cedar River. The DNR says the park is closed to all traffic, cars, bikes, walking, hiking and people. With trails flooded, gates will be closed for safety.

In Delaware County, the Iowa DNR says the North, East, and West gates at Backbone State Park are closed because of flooding. The DNR also says swimming at Backbone Lake is not recommended because of higher levels of E. Coli.

Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.

July 3 (UPI) — A police chief in a small Iowa town has been slapped with a 60-month federal prison sentence for illegally possessing a machine gun and making false statements to authorities, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Bradley Eugene Wendt, former chief of police in Adair, Iowa, and owner of a firearms supply business in nearby Denison, Iowa, was found guilty by a jury of one count of conspiracy to make false statements to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and eight counts of making a false statement to the ATF, federal prosecutors in Des Moines said in a statement.

Authorities accused Wendt of buying machine guns for the Adair Police Department but later reselling the weapons via his gun dealership at a personal profit of nearly $80,000 by falsely using “demonstration law letters.”

Among the weapons he illegally obtained was a .50 caliber machine gun called a “Ma Deuce,” which prosecutors say he “immediately mounted to his personally owned armored Humvee.”

Wendt also personally possessed a belt-fed, M60 machine gun registered to the Adair Police Department, which authorities said he allowed members of public to shoot for a fee during an event held in April 2022.

During his trial, Wendt insisted he had talked with ATF officials and was under the impression all of his transactions were legal, but prosecutors countered there was no plausible reason for a town of fewer than 1,000 people to acquire such heavy weaponry, the Des Moines Register reported.

They also pointed to texts and emails sent by Wendt to friends bragging about how he was using his post as police chief to obtain and sell firearms.

“We expect law enforcement officers to uphold their oath to protect and serve our communities. Instead, Brad Wendt broke the law and betrayed the community by unlawfully obtaining and selling firearms for his own personal profit,” said FBI Omaha Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel. “The FBI remains steadfast in aggressively investigating and bringing to justice those who misuse their authority for personal gain.”

The former police chief was fined $50,000 and will be required to serve a three-year term of supervised release upon completion of his 60-month prison sentence.