In the early hours of a Sunday morning in Des Moines, Iowa, the life of Jerry Franklin Goff, a 40-year-old Caucasian male, was cut short by gunfire. On June 3, 2018, at approximately 2:15 a.m., police responded to reports of shots fired in the 600 block of 38th Street. When they arrived, they discovered a crime scene but no victim. Goff had already been taken by a private vehicle to a local hospital, where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
Investigators with the Des Moines Police Department quickly classified Goff's death as the city's fourth homicide of the year. Preliminary details suggested that the shooting was not a random act of violence. Authorities indicated that the incident likely stemmed from a domestic dispute, though they did not release further specifics about the nature of the disagreement or who was involved. The investigation was a collaborative effort with the Polk County Attorney's Office from the outset.
In the days that followed, police identified Jerry Goff as the deceased and confirmed they were treating the case as a homicide investigation. Despite the indications that the shooting was domestic-related, no immediate arrests were made in connection with his death. Authorities publicly appealed for anyone with information regarding the shooting to come forward as they continued their investigation into the circumstances that led to the fatal encounter on that early June morning.
