‘We were woken up by 20 gunshots’: Fort Dodge neighbors react after 4th Street Depot shooting
Police say a 20-year-old man faces several charges after a shooting outside a Fort Dodge bar left one person dead and others injured early Saturday.
Jamarcus Gully is charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder of a peace officer and two counts of attempted murder.
The shooting happened around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday following what police describe as an “altercation” outside the 4th Street Depot, a bar and grill in the 300 block of South 4th Street.
Police say an officer arrived and saw Gully "actively firing rounds from a handgun" while multiple people were injured. Court documents show Gully fired at the officer. Investigators say the officer fired at Gully, who ran into the bar, according to investigators. The officer pursued him, and Gully was later arrested on a nearby street by responder Webster County Sheriff's deputies.
Emily Jensen, who lives in the area, said she and her husband woke up to more than a dozen gunshots.
“We were woken up by 20 gunshots and that was incredibly discombobulating that early in the morning,” said Jensen.
Jensen said the shots initially sounded like fireworks. After realizing they were gunshots, she and her husband checked on their four children.
“We just ran around the house,” said Jensen. “We were checking their rooms and just making sure that everybody was OK.”
No one inside Jensen’s home was injured. However, the same couldn't be said for people outside of their home.
“We were all standing out here watching the victims’ families come and be impacted,” said Jensen. “That was incredibly difficult, very challenging to watch.”
Jensen praised officers’ response but said neighbors have previously raised concerns about the bar.
“The response time by our police officers was incredible,” said Jensen. “This current establishment has had some issues, and we have raised it as a neighborhood constantly for about the last three years."
KCCI did not hear from other people in the neighborhood when knocking on doors.
The owner of 4th Street Depot declined an on-camera interview Monday. Fort Dodge police did not immediately respond to a request for updated information.
Police say the officer who fired at Gully was placed on critical incident leave under department protocol. Per protocol with this being an officer-involved shooting, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating.
The overall shooting remains under investigation.