Cedar Rapids officers involved in shooting identified

CEDAR RAPIDS — State officials have released the names of three Cedar Rapids police officers who on April 6 were involved in shooting and killing a man who police say was armed and making threats and pointing a weapon at them.

Sgt. Alex Haas, Officer Emily Habeck and Officer Skylar Mullins all responded to a 911 call from David Vanderhamm on at 6:37 p.m. April 6. He asked police to respond to his home on 31st Street NE. A second man also called 911, asking police to perform a welfare check on Vanderhamm, according to the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

Vanderhamm, 39, of Cedar Rapids, was making homicidal and suicidal remarks and was armed when police approached. The officers told him to drop the weapon, but he raised it toward them. Haas, Habeck and Mullins shot at him, and he died on the scene.

The other man who had called the police was also hit by gunfire and was taken to the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. The department’s Division of Criminal Investigation, which is investigating the shooting, has declined to release the injured man’s name.

The three officers were placed on paid leave while the officer-involved shooting is investigated, which is standard procedure. The state officials said the officers are all cooperating in their investigation.

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