US Police

According to police, the first incident happened around 6:35 p.m. on the 1100 block of Trinity Lane. Authorities said a neighbor may have interrupted an auto burglary and one suspect pointed a handgun before fleeing. The thieves took cell phones, and a female victim’s purse.

“My family still lives here and I never seen any crime. It’s always been a good area,” said long-time resident Max Topete. “Yeah very surprised. I had no idea.”

The first officer, who worked for the Urbandale Police Department, was killed shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday morning after responding to shots fired in Urbandale, northwest of Des Moines.

Authorities said the officer, still seated in a squad car, was found dead at the scene.

About 20 minutes later, a Des Moines police officer found another officer from the same department dead at a nearby intersection.

The second officer, just like the first, also was seated in his patrol vehicle. That officer was declared dead at Iowa Methodist Medical Center.

That is the conclusion of a strongly-worded post that has been shared more than 130,000 times on Facebook and has racked up hundreds of thousands of views on other media platforms such as Imgur.

While the sentiment is provocative, it is the identity of the author that triggered particular interest. Jay Stalien's profile indicates he is an active police officer in Florida and previously Baltimore. And he is black.