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Two police officers on separate patrols for their respective departments in Urbandale and Des Moines were shot and killed early Wednesday morning. A manhunt for the party or parties responsible is currently under way.

According to the Des Moines Register, members of both departments responded to the first call (a report of gunfire) at 1:06 a.m. local time. What they found was an Urbandale officer who’d been shot in an apparent ambush attack. CNN reports first responders indicated the unnamed officer, who died in the attack, was seated in their patrol car when it happened.

About 20 minutes after the first call, a Des Moines police officer was shot and killed while responding to the first officer’s death. Like the first victim, the second was still seated in their patrol car when the alleged attack took place. Needless to say, cops in the area are on high alert while they try to figure out what happened and find the individual — or group — responsible.

Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek addressed the matter in a short press conference:

“There is clearly danger if you’re a police officer. These guys were gunned down sitting in their car, doing nothing wrong. So, there’s definitely some danger out there. There’s somebody out there shooting police officers. We hope we find him before anybody else gets hurt.”

Neither Parizek nor anyone else working the matter offered any details about who the suspect(s) may be. Meanwhile, schools in Urbandale and the surrounding area were closed for the day while police from both departments pursued their investigation.

We’ll post more information here if and when it becomes available.

(Via Des Moines Register, CNN and Associated Press)