3 men charged after a teen was shot in the head in Des Moines' Drake neighborhood Sunday

Three Des Moines men were arrested Monday following a weekend shooting that left a teenager hospitalized.

Des Moines police were responding to an unrelated call around 5 p.m. Sunday when an officer heard gunshots and saw a vehicle traveling at high speeds near 30th and Clark streets.

Following a short pursuit, police say they stopped the vehicle in the 1600 block of Forest Avenue. Police discovered four men inside the vehicle, including Braden Shafer, an 18-year-old Des Moines resident with a gunshot wound to his head.

Shafer, 18, remained in critical condition Monday after undergoing a surgical procedure Sunday night, police said.

Des Moines police on Monday arrested Austin James Mallory, 18, and Raekwon Patton, 21, for attempted murder. Tayronce Devon Denton, 24, was charged with possession of a controlled substance. These three — along with Shafer and one other passenger — were in the vehicle that exchanged gunfire with a pedestrian in the 3000 block of Clark Street, court documents state.

Court documents later identified Mallory as the driver.

The pedestrian has not been identified but could be charged, Sgt. Paul Parizek said Monday.

"The potential for charges certainly exists, but we need to know their side of the story," Parizek said. "It appears there may have been an element of self-defense in play."

Patton tossed the gun out of the vehicle during the pursuit, according to court documents, and police say a second gun was discovered in the vehicle.

The chain of events leading up to the shooting started at Merle Hay Mall, where the occupants of the car saw people they have "conflict" with, Parizek said.

"Those people get into a car and (the car Shafer was in) begin to chase them," Parizek said.

When both vehicles entered the Drake neighborhood, the car Shafer was in lost sight of the car it was chasing, Parizek continued.

"They see the pedestrian, and, evidence indicates, two people — one being Shafer— begin to shoot at the pedestrian. The pedestrian returns gunfire, striking Shafer in the head," Parizek said. Court documents later revealed that both Patton and Shafer exchanged gunfire with the pedestrian.

The investigation is ongoing, with emphasis on identifying the pedestrian, Parizek said. 

Philip Joens covers breaking news for The Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184 at pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.

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