Iowa woman shoots another woman in self-defense: reports

A woman who was being assaulted inside an Iowa grocery store shot her attacker with a legally owned gun in what police called an act of self-defense, according to reports.

The woman says she shot one round Sunday morning because she was “blindsided, beat up and put in a headlock” inside the Hy-Vee food store in Des Moines, KCCI 8 reported, citing Des Moines police.

The alleged attacker, identified by police as Kapri Francis, 30, suffered a gunshot wound to the leg after she launched a “totally unprovoked attack” at the legally armed woman, police said, according to KCCI 8.

A male customer was also injured after the bullet ricochet and hit him in the foot, the report said.

Police said the two women involved know each other, according to KCCI 8.

Francis was charged with assault causing bodily harm while the woman who used her gun is not facing any charges.

“The preliminary investigation of this incident indicates that the suspect and one of the victims (the shooter) were involved in a spontaneous dispute within the store prior to the shooting,” Sgt. Paul Parizek of Des Moines Police told the Des Moines Register.  

After talking to witnesses and reviewing the evidence, detectives “learned that the shooter in this incident acted in self-defense after being violently assaulted,” the police also reportedly said.

Parizek said the relationship between Francis and the alleged shooter is “best described as acquainted with a history of conflict between the two,” the Des Moines Register reported.