Pleasant Hill neighbors will never forget Saturday: Naked man fired at a home, killed dogs
Jean Loegering was sitting near a rear window in her gray chair Saturday afternoon, busy sewing her granddaughter's 8-foot-long table runner when she heard what she thought were fireworks.
From where she sat, Loegering could see a man she estimated to be 20 to 30 years old. He was naked except for an ammunition belt.
In his hands was an automatic rifle.
She watched him jump the fence into her neighbor's backyard and fire at the home. She also watched him smoking a cigarette, saw a gas canister and thought he was going to light the house on fire.
Her husband, Steve Loegering, was one of several neighbors who called police, and they arrived within minutes.
Pleasant Hill police, along with officers from other metro police agencies, responded at about 1 p.m. to the 400 block of Pleasant Circle, where they found an armed man firing a weapon. A Pleasant Hill officer shot the man and took him into custody, according to a release from Pleasant Hill police.
The man, later pronounced dead, was identified in a news release Sunday evening as Bradley Robert Van Heeswyk, 25, of Des Moines.
"The police had to tear down the fence after to get in there," Jean Loegering said. "They came in our yard this way and on the other side. There were a lot of police here. They just kept coming."
One officer fired his weapon, the Sunday evening news release said. He was identified as Pleasant Hill officer Steven Burroughs, who is on paid administrative leave, following standard department policy.
Jean Loegering estimated seeing about 50 officers on the scene from several jurisdictions, including Altoona and Pleasant Hill. After the man was shot by police, she saw him on a gurney with an IV and observed first responders tend to him for quite some time.
Van Heeswyk died after being transported to MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center, police have said.
Police said in an email Saturday evening that the subject killed two family dogs just before the incident with officers.
The Loegerings have lived in their home for over 20 years. They and other neighbors said nothing like this has happened in the area before. It's typical for children to be outside playing in the cul-de-sac, one neighbor said.
"It was an experience I'll never forget," Steven Loegering said.
Pleasant Hill police said that there is no ongoing threat to the public and that no one else was injured during the incident, which is being investigated by Pleasant Hill police and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
Noelle Alviz-Gransee is a breaking news reporter at the Des Moines Register. Follow her on Twitter@NoelleHannika or email her at NAlvizGransee@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Witnesses: Man shot by Pleasant Hill police was naked, fired at home
