BETTENDORF, Iowa — A man with a sharp-edged weapon was shot dead by police in a Bettendorf home after officers responded to a report that a child being put in danger on Thursday, September 3.
Police were called to a home near the intersection of 16th 1/2 Street and Bellevue Avenue where somebody reportedly had a knife to a four-year-old's throat, according to a statement from Bettendorf Chief of Police Keith Kimball.
An officer fired his gun at the man, hitting him once. The man, 53-year-old Timothy Clevenger from Silvis, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Scott County real estate records show that Clevenger is the owner of the home, which is listed as a registered in-home daycare run by someone else.
"I start just streaming tears," said Alisha Wadden, the mother of a four-year-old son who attended the daycare. "I didn't even have a chance to feel the emotions it was just shock."
Wadden said she received a phone call from Bettendorf Police urging her to pick up her son from the police department.
Police say none of the children or other people involved sustained any injuries.
Wadden said the little girl held hostage by the man was her son's best friend.
"She just so happened to be the first one that he got to," said Wadden. "And he goes 'I wish I could’ve ran faster and got her before the bad guy snatched her and cut her'."
Wadden said her son and the little girl were standing beside each other when the man grabbed the child.
"[My son] said the bad guy took her and they cut her cheek and then the cops came in and they shot him," said Wadden reciting her son's story. "He said 'they shot him and then he was dead on the ground'."
Wadden said she struggled processing how much her son had witnessed.
"He speaks about her more than anything. And he is so concerned about whether she's okay," said Wadden. "Thank god that it wasn't something more severe but the wounds that I worry about the most are the emotional wounds."
The investigation has been turned over to the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation and the officer involved was placed on administrative leave, which is a standard policy of the department.