Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.ONAWA, Iowa — There were more questions than answers Monday in a shooting that occurred the previous afternoon.
Darren Hieber, who owns a trucking firm in Onawa, was shot late Sunday by a 23-year-old employee, police said. There had been no arrests or charges in the case as of Monday.
The Onawa Police Department provided this account:
The shooting at Hieber's shop, a metal building in the shadow of a grain elevator on the north side of town, was reported at 5:52 p.m.
When officers and Monona County deputies arrived, they found Hieber, who had been wounded in a leg. He told them entered his shop, discovered a burglary in progress and was shot by one of the burglars, which later turned out not to be true.
“We don't believe that was accurate,” Jim Fouts, assistant chief of the Onawa Police Department, said Monday.
Agents with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, which was called in to help on the case, determined that Hieber had been shot by an employee.
After the shooting, paramedics took Hieber to Burgess Hospital, about 13 blocks away, where he remained Monday. Fouts referred questions about Hieber's condition to the hospital, but a Burgess spokeswoman declined to confirm he was a patient there.
Fouts wouldn't say why the two men were at Hieber's business Sunday, although he did say that the gunfire wasn't the result of an argument.
Said Onawa Police Chief Gary Addy: “There are certain things we don't want to make known at this time until the investigation is completed.”
Asked if it was an accident, Fouts said that the incident is “still being investigated.”
Asked if charges were forthcoming, Fouts said: “I would assume so.”
Authorities said they did not want residents to be worried about their safety because of the incident. “They don't need to be in fear,” Fouts said. “We're not looking for any other suspects.” Billy Allen of Onawa said Hieber had rented the building from him for the past six months . “Seems like a pretty decent guy,” Allen said of Hieber. “I hope he gets better….” News of the shooting got around Onawa quickly Sunday as residents settled in to watch the Super Bowl. Amy Reed, a neighbor, said she was a bit unnerved by the shooting. Such events are uncommon in Onawa, she said. Reed wasn't home when Hieber was shot but her daughters, ages 16 and 17, were. They were unaware of what happened some 200 feet away. “They had their iPods going,” Reed said. “They said they didn't hear anything.” Contact the writer: 402-444-1310, andrew.nelson@owh.com
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