Andrew Tanaka charged with four attempted murder counts in I-35 shootings

Andrew Darrick Tanaka, 27, of West Des Moines, faces four counts of attempted murder after gunfire struck three vehicles on Interstate 35 in Warren County, Iowa, on October 5, wounding one driver.

A criminal complaint and affidavit filed Tuesday in Warren County District Court states that Tanaka told law enforcement, after he was taken into custody, that he had to kill people that day. Fox News reported the contents of the filing.

Multiple law enforcement agencies, among them the Warren County Sheriff's Office, the West Des Moines Police Department and the Iowa State Patrol, responded shortly after 3:30 p.m. that afternoon to reports of shots fired near the 56-mile marker, the Iowa Department of Public Safety said. Officers found an adult female with an apparent gunshot wound and multiple vehicles struck by apparent gunfire.

What the affidavit describes

Tanaka was driving a black Chevrolet Equinox when a woman in a black BMW passed him in the northbound lanes, according to the affidavit. The BMW then passed a Subaru Outback. Investigators allege that Tanaka caught up to the Subaru and fired at least two rounds through the driver's side window, striking the woman behind the wheel in her left shoulder.

He then caught up to the BMW and fired another round through its driver's side window, the affidavit states. Tanaka continued north before rear-ending a gray Nissan Altima carrying two people.

The two people in the Altima stopped to check on him. Tanaka allegedly got out of his vehicle with a handgun and fired at least one round into the car's windshield.

Officers located Tanaka near the 62-mile marker, standing on the shoulder of the interstate and holding a handgun. His vehicle had struck another and become disabled. They took him into custody without further incident, and he was booked into the Warren County Jail on four counts of attempted murder.

A highway closed for hours

The shootings and the investigation required the interstate to be closed for several hours, the department said, to ensure the safety of the public and of the investigators processing the scene. KCCI reported that a 16-mile stretch of the highway was shut down.

The department published its account as a press release on October 6, attaching a booking photo and a copy of the complaint and affidavit.

Officers provided aid to the woman at the scene before she was taken to a local hospital, where her injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. The department did not name her, give her age or say how long she would remain hospitalized. She was driving the Subaru Outback, the first vehicle fired on in the sequence the affidavit sets out.

The department's release gives no motive for the shootings and does not say whether Tanaka knew any of the drivers whose vehicles were hit.

Authorities received multiple 911 calls reporting gunfire in the northbound lanes at around 3:31 p.m., according to the affidavit. The state's release puts the law enforcement response shortly after 3:30 p.m.

The agencies and the filing

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is working the case with the Warren County Sheriff's Office, the department said in its October 6 release. The division is one of six within the Iowa Department of Public Safety, a state agency led by a commissioner appointed by the governor and described in the release as the largest law enforcement agency in the state.

Its other divisions are the Iowa State Patrol, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, the Iowa State Fire Marshal Division, the Iowa Division of Intelligence and Fusion Center and an administrative services division.

The department did not say how many rounds were fired in all, or whether the handgun Tanaka was holding was the weapon used earlier on the interstate. It did not give a total for the vehicles hit, or say when the road reopened.

Four counts of attempted murder are pending against Tanaka, and the release does not identify the people they correspond to. The affidavit, as described by Fox News, places a woman at the wheel of the BMW, a woman driving the Subaru and two people in the Altima.

Four counts in Warren County

Tanaka, 27, of West Des Moines, is being held in the Warren County Jail on four counts of attempted murder and one count of intimidation with a dangerous weapon, according to court records. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 16.

The line in the affidavit

The statement attributed to Tanaka appears in the complaint and affidavit filed in Warren County District Court on Tuesday, the day after the shootings. Fox News reported that he made it to law enforcement after he was taken into custody.

The department's release announcing the arrest does not include the statement. KCCI reported that few details of the case have been made public, and that court documents also show a $1 million cash-only bond.

I had to kill people today.

The release ends with a line on the status of the charges. "A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty," it reads. The department did not say whether further charges are under consideration.

Where the case stands

Tanaka remains in the Warren County Jail. No attorney for him has been named, and the department did not say when its investigators expect to finish their work.

The investigation remains open. The sheriff's office has asked anyone with information that may assist to contact it at 515-690-9216, the number listed in the department's release.