Clinton, Grassley cancel Des Moines campaign events in wake of officer shootings

DES MOINES - Hillary Clinton and Chuck Grassley canceled campaign events scheduled for Wednesday in Des Moines in the wake of the early-morning shooting deaths of two metro police officers.

The officers were shot to death while sitting in their patrol cars early Wednesday in what police described as ambush-style attacks. A suspect is in police custody.

The campaign for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was scheduled to hold an event Wednesday night in downtown Des Moines. The event, which was to feature Clinton's husband, former president Bill Clinton, and her running mate, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, was canceled Wednesday morning.

'Heartbroken for the families of two brave officers who were killed in Iowa. There's no justification for this kind of violence,” said a tweet posted to Hillary Clinton's Twitter account and signed '-H,” a designation that suggests the tweet was written by the candidate, not staff.

Bill Clinton is scheduled to appear at campaign events Wednesday in Sioux City and Waterloo, and Kaine is scheduled to appear at an event in Dubuque. Those events will proceed as scheduled, according to the Clinton campaign.

Grassley, who is running for a seventh term in the U.S. Senate, was scheduled to hold a campaign news conference with fellow Sen. Cory Gardner on Wednesday afternoon in Des Moines. That event also was canceled.

'Barbara and I are praying for the families, fellow officers and loved ones of two of Iowa's finest today,” Grassley said in a news release. 'These officers were killed in what appears to be an unprovoked and cold-blooded act. Every day, our law enforcement officers go to work to keep us safe. No matter the circumstances, they answer the call in communities across Iowa. We all keep the officers in Des Moines, Urbandale and throughout Iowa in our thoughts as they respond to an ongoing dangerous situation.”

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, the running mate to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, is scheduled to appear at a campaign event Thursday at a farm just south of Des Moines. As of Wednesday afternoon, that event remained on the campaign's schedule.