Who Is Eden Montang From Iowa?
Story County Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald said at the press conference the shooting was a domestic dispute between Eden Mariah Montang and Johnathan Lee Whitlatch.
According to Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald, Johnathan Lee Whitlatch would have fired five shots with a 9mm pistol into the faces of Eden Moriah Montang and Vivian Renee Flores before turning the gun on himself.
One of the women and Vivian Flores, 21, were killed, and Whitlatch shot and killed himself, said Story County, Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald.
Ames Church Shooting Victim, Johnathan Lee Whitlatch’s Girlfriend
Whitlatch and one of the women had been separated for some time, Fitzgerald said, and investigators believed Whitlatch’s intention was to kill her.
The two women were friends and students at Iowa State University, traveling together to an Iowa church that holds a weekly service that is popular among college students and seniors, said Story County, Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald.
An investigation showed that two Iowa State students were at Cornerstone Church, just outside of Ames, attending The Salt Company Program, a Bible study program connecting high school and college students.
His former girlfriend and her friend were attending a bible study at Cornerstone Church in Ames, both of whom attended Iowa State.
The two students, who are seniors at Iowa State, are senior students at the College of Human Science from Boone, and juniors at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences from West Des Moines.
Eden Moriah Montang and Flores were each junior college seniors at Iowa State, walking behind sheriff Paul Fitzgerald.
A shooter in Iowa killed himself, his former girlfriend, and her friends in a parking lot near the Cornerstone Armed Services Church, in Des Moines, Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald said. Johnathan Lee Whitlatch, who was assigned to Eden Moriah Montang, killed Vivian Renee Flores, the sheriff’s office acknowledged.
Mass Shooting In The USA
The gunman, who was from Iowa, told authorities that he did not remember much of the incident, as he was drinking.
Ames Police charged Johnathan Lee Whitlatch with harassment and posing as a public official during a domestic dispute on May 31.
Johnathan Lee Whitlatch, 33, Boone, pulled up in a pickup truck and began shooting at one woman, Vivian Flores, 21, and another woman a little before 7 p.m. Thursday near the Iowa City Church, according to the report.
Authorities said Eden Montang, 22, Vivian Flores, 21, and another friend were walking into the church in Ames from a parking lot when a gunman pulled up in a parked car and got out of the truck, holding a 9mm gun.
AMES, Iowa — Authorities in Story County say a deadly shooting Thursday at an Ames church by two women was a targeted incident, and that the gunman took his own life after he shot the women.
Cornerstone Church in Armes issued a statement saying the women killed were younger members of our congregation but did not provide additional details on the victims or Iowas gunman, citing the ongoing police investigation.
Authorities conducted a search of Whitlatch’s residence following the shootings, finding ammunition for a 9mm handgun purchased only one hour before the shootings, and an unrelated AR-15 rifle.