Names of Cedar Rapids officers involved in fatal shooting released

Cedar Rapids police on Thursday identified the two officers involved in the fatal shooting of a woman at the conclusion of an early-morning police chase early Tuesday.

Officers Mitchell Magill and Adrienne Phelps were the two officers at the scene, police said. Both have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation, which is standard procedure in officer-involved shootings.

Police say Desirae A. Daniel, 27, of Cedar Rapids, pulled a gun on the two officers as they approached the car, prompting the officers to open fire, authorities said. Daniel died a short time later at St. Luke's Hospital.

The chase began around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, when police tried to stop a driver that had committed a traffic violation near the corner of F Avenue and 19th Street NW. Police said the chase went west and then back east on Johnson Avenue NW before the driver turned south and stopped in the 200 block of 27th Street NW.

Witnesses said two officers were approaching the white sedan and shouting orders at the female driver when three gunshots rang out. According to police, Daniel displayed a gun as officers were approaching the car from the rear, and both officers fired their weapons.