Two police officers in US killed in ambush-style attacks

Two officers were shot while sitting in their patrol cars. The police department said there is “somebody out there shooting officers” and that the hunt for the killer is on.

Two police officers were shot to death early on Wednesday in ambush-style attacks while they were sitting in their patrol cars, authorities said.

Des Moines Police Sergeant Paul Parizek speaks during a news conference about shootings of two officers on Wednesday in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP)

Officers responded to a report of shots fired at 1.06 am and found an Urbandale Police Department officer who had been shot. Authorities from several agencies saturated the area after that shooting, and about 20 minutes later discovered that a Des Moines officer had been shot in a patrol car at an intersection, Des Moines Sgt. Paul Parizek said. The shootings happened about 2 miles apart.

“There’s somebody out there shooting police officers. We hope to find him before somebody else gets hurt,” said Parizek, who became emotional at times during a news conference.

Authorities are developing suspect information but there was nothing that they were ready to share with the public, Parizek said. Officers are now doing patrols in pairs to better protect themselves, he said.

Parizek said he didn’t have any more information about the shootings.

Urbandale is a city in the Des Moines metro area with about 50 officers.