Police: Iowa City shooting suspect claimed self-defense

IOWA CITY - An Iowa City man arrested in connection with a shooting investigation claimed he was acting in self-defense, police said.

Iowa City police announced on Tuesday they had made an arrest in a Saturday shooting investigation. Curtis R. Bell, 35, was arrested Tuesday after police said he admitted to shooting a revolver during a dispute Saturday night.

Officers responded to the area of Taylor Drive and Hollywood Boulevard around 9 p.m. Saturday for a report of shots fired. There, they found that parked cars in the area had been damaged with bullet holes, but the shooter had fled.

Police said witnesses at the scene identified Bell as the shooter and said he had been in dispute with someone else. During an interview on Tuesday, Bell said he was acting in self-defense when he fired the revolver.

Police searched Bell's home on Hollywood Boulevard and found both the revolver and an AR-15 belonging to Bell. Police said Bell was convicted in 1999 of drug-related felonies and is barred from possessing firearms.

Bell faces charges of possession of a firearm by a felon, a Class D felony; and reckless use of a firearm causing property damage, an aggravated misdemeanor.

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