WATCH: Surveillance video shows dozens of shots being fired as vehicles zoom off in Des Moines

Police are investigating a possible shooting on Des Moines' east side with the aid of surveillance video that includes audio of the apparent gunfire.

People who live and work in the area said they think they know the cause.

The footage, which was taken at 3:20 a.m. April 6 in the 3400 block of East 26th Street, points toward a plaza and apartment building in the Fairmont Park neighborhood near Interstate Highway 235. Several cars are seen in the area; the sound of 30-plus shots follows, ringing out for about 20 seconds. Many of the cars parked in the plaza quickly pulled out during and after the shootings. 

Mary Larue, 52, lives in one of the four apartment buildings across the street from the plaza and said she heard some shots that night. 

"My grandson, he heard it and he ducked down in the chair and said, 'Grandma, what's going on?'" she said last week. "He's 5." 

Des Moines police have seen the footage but have not released where the shooting started or if anyone was injured because the investigation is ongoing, said Sgt. Paul Parizek. Suspects have been identified, and Parizek said last week shell casings were found on East 26th Street, but he did not say how many shots were fired or where the casings were found in relation to nearby businesses and homes. 

A male victim showed up about 3:30 a.m. April 6 to Iowa Methodist Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, however, Parizek said he would not connect that shooting with the surveillance footage, citing the ongoing investigation. 

But neighbors in a nearby apartment, a business manager in the area, and the Fairmont Park neighborhood association president think the shots may have been a byproduct of an alleged "after-hours bar" that attracted dozens of people after bar-close time. The bar is said to have been housed in the old location of a jewelry store at 3525 E. 26th St.

"I thought it was an office," said Mary Midthun, who lives in the same building as Larue. "We heard the shots (early Saturday) and the guy was shot in the stomach, we went down and we was talking to people down at that bars.

"It was the after-hour bar, down at the end of the plaza."

Midthun, 67, said she went to talk to people in the parking lot of the plaza and they told her someone had been shot after an argument in the area.  

"We weren't exactly feeling safe," she said. 

Eddie Pagliai, whose wife owns nearby East Side Eddie's Bar and Grill, said he was concerned after being told about shots the following day. 

"I've heard different stories. I don't know what's the truth, what's not the truth," he said. "But I know this much: I don't think anything happened here."

Pagliai said his wife's business was closed by 2 a.m. April 6, so whatever caused the shooting did not start at East Side Eddie's. 

Fairmont Park neighborhood association president Jeff Witte said he wants to be sure that people don't associate the incident with Eddie's.

"He has been an asset to the neighborhood," Witte said. "It's a good place, we've never had problems there."

But Witte has heard of problems concerning the reported late-night hangout that was three doors down from Eddie's. Other business owners complained about loud music long into the night and litter left behind by large crowds, so he told Des Moines police. 

“There was an after-hours bar," he said. "No doubt about it. A bar, or whatever they were doing in there. The windows were all blacked out. 

“We’re just not going to put up with that stuff. We're going to do everything we can do to stop this from happening in Fairmont Park.”

The tinting on the windows was not there when the Register went to the location Monday. Witte and Pagliai said they were told the tenants in the alleged club, which still bears a sign saying "Marcia's Jewelry," were moved to another location.

Witte said he's proud of how people in the neighborhood handled the nuisance, leading to its removal from the area.

“There was never a problem before, and since they’re gone we feel like there probably won’t be a problem after, unless the owner rents to someone who isn’t on the up and up," he said.

Pagliai said the person who owns his wife's property, Mike Clayton, owns most or all of the properties in the plaza at the corner of East Euclid Avenue and East 26th Street. Polk County Assessor records show a George M. Clayton as the holder of the properties. 

Pagliai had asked the owner about the business that was three doors down from his in March after a bartender closing shop at East Side Eddie's reported more than 100 people in the parking lot playing music well after bar-close time of 2 a.m.

Parizek said police had responded to calls of loud music in the area on March 24 and March 31 and a call of suspicious activity March 31, but no citations were issued in those events. The music was turned down on the 24th, and officers did not find anything illegal happening on the other two calls. He said investigators could not confirm reports of an illicit bar. 

Clayton told others renting properties in the plaza that the storefront with the blacked-out windows was a photo studio. But less about a month after hearing about the after-hours bar, Clayton told fellow business owners their newest neighbors would be moved to a new, unnamed location. 

Clayton answered his phone when reached by the Register, but abruptly ended the call when asked about the tenants and business that took over Marcia's Jewelry. 

"There's nobody there," Clayton said Tuesday. He has not returned any additional calls seeking comment. 

Follow the Register on Facebook and Twitter for more news. Tyler Davis can be contacted at 515-284-8378, tjdavis@dmreg.com or on Twitter @TDavisDMR.