In the late morning chill of November 22, 2016, the life of 28-year-old Breion Isiah Combs, a Black/African American man, was tragically cut short on the streets of Burlington, Iowa. Combs, who was originally from Chicago, was discovered slumped over the steering wheel of his vehicle in the Saunderson Heights neighborhood, near the intersection of South Gunnison and Aetna Streets.
The quiet of the neighborhood had been shattered by the sound of more than a dozen gunshots, a violent outburst that ended a life and launched a complex investigation.
Responding to reports of shots fired, Burlington police officers arrived to a grim scene. Combs had sustained a fatal gunshot wound, and though he had apparently tried to drive away from his assailant, he succumbed to his injuries just a block from where the confrontation is believed to have occurred. An autopsy later performed at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics would confirm the cause of death.
The initial stages of the investigation were marked by a flurry of activity, as Combs's death was part of a wider string of shootings that had put the city on edge. While his name was initially withheld to allow for family notification, the community was soon mourning the loss of the young man from Chicago. In the immediate aftermath, as officers were still processing the scene of Combs's death, more gunshots rang out just a block away. This second incident resulted in another man from Chicago being wounded and led to the arrest of three individuals. However, information directly linking a specific suspect to the murder of Breion Isiah Combs did not immediately come to light. The investigation into who fired the fatal shots that ended his life continued, leaving a community searching for answers and a family grappling with a sudden and violent loss.
