Motivation in Coralville robbery under investigation

CORALVILLE - Coralville Police Chief Barry Bedford said investigators are still sorting out what led to a shooting there Monday night.

'We've got a bunch of stuff we're doing today,” Bedford said Tuesday morning. 'We're still trying to figure it out.”

Police said officers responded to a gunshot victim - a 15-year-old suffering from a single gunshot wound to the hip - shortly before 5 p.m. Monday at 613 10th Avenue. Police said three men and one juvenile - 17-year-old Arthur Kirksey, 18-year-old Deonta Moore, 20-year-old Patrick Warren and 18-year-old Ali Ali Abdelkarim - entered the residence robbed the residents of personal property. During the robbery, the 15-year-old was shot and others were pistol-whipped, police said.

Kirksey faces charges of attempted murder, first-degree robbery and possession of a firearm as a felon for his role as the gunman in the robbery. He was taken to the Juvenile Detention Center in Linn County before being returned to Johnson County for his initial appearance. Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said Kirksey will be 'sight and sound separated” in the Muscatine County Jail until he turns 18 next week. While the alleged crimes were committed when he was a juvenile, two of the offenses are forcible felonies and Kirskey will be tried as an adult, Pulkrabek said.

Court records show Kirksey was charged with second-degree robbery in April 2014 and the case was transferred to juvenile court.

The three other men were charged with first-degree robbery, a Class B felony.

What led to the robbery and shooting is still under investigation, Bedford said.

'We have come to that conclusion at this point,” he said. 'There's a lot of speculation what it could be. We know they took some personal property, some cellphones, maybe some other stuff. Is that what they really went in for? We're not sure. We want to try to learn more.”

Bedford said among the victim and suspects, some of the people involved were previously known to police. That aided responding officers in quickly rounding up the suspects.

'They were able to anticipate where they might be,” Bedford said. 'They were able to get them into custody almost immediately.”

Bedford said he did not have a condition on the gunshot victim. He said the other people injured during the robbery were treated at the scene.