Zachary Tyler McDivitt, a 35-year-old White male from Clinton, Iowa, was fatally shot late on the night of July 20, 2022. At approximately 10:39 p.m., Clinton police officers were dispatched to the 100 block of North Fifth Street after a shooting was reported. When officers arrived, they discovered McDivitt lying wounded on a sidewalk. He was rushed to MercyOne hospital, but his injuries proved fatal, and he was pronounced dead shortly afterward.
The gunfire startled residents of what
neighbors described as a normally quiet area. People living nearby reported hearing several shots in rapid succession, followed by a woman screaming for someone to help. At least some of the gunfire struck the surrounding property, including a concrete step, raising fears among residents that bullets could have entered nearby homes. The shooting occurred only days after another man, Antoine Sampson, had been killed elsewhere in Clinton, intensifying concern about a sudden outbreak of violence in the community.
Investigators treated McDivitt's death as a homicide from the beginning. The Clinton Police Department worked alongside special agents from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, including personnel from its Major Crime Unit and Special Enforcement Operations Bureau. The Clinton County Sheriff's Office, Clinton County Emergency Management, the county medical examiner, the Clinton County Attorney's Office, the Iowa Attorney General's Office and the state medical examiner also assisted. Authorities collected information from the scene and received tips from members of the public as they worked to identify the person responsible.
By the following day, investigators had arrested Kyler Jay Andresen of Clinton, who was 17 at the time of the shooting. Andresen was charged as an adult with first-degree murder, a Class A felony, in connection with McDivitt's death. Police described the shooting as a targeted incident that arose from an argument rather than a random attack. Authorities also said they did not believe McDivitt's killing was connected to Sampson's death and assured residents that there was no continuing threat to the public.
Although Andresen was initially accused of first-degree murder, the case ultimately resulted in a conviction for second-degree murder, a Class B felony. Iowa Department of Corrections records show that he was committed to state custody on May 18, 2023. He is incarcerated at the Anamosa State Penitentiary, and his correctional record lists the offense as second-degree murder with an 85-percent sentence requirement and a tentative discharge date in July 2045.
The prosecution and conviction established Andresen as the person criminally responsible for the shooting. No additional gunman or accomplice has been publicly identified in connection with McDivitt's death. Andresen has remained in prison, and an April 2026 parole-board decision denied his release and scheduled the matter for another review after 12 months. The case that began with McDivitt found gravely wounded on a Clinton sidewalk therefore ended not as an unsolved street shooting, but with the arrest, prosecution and imprisonment of the teenager held responsible for taking his life.
