[UPDATED] Cedar Rapids Police Investigating 2 Murders; Fire Department Saves Man in Grain Bin [PHOTOS]
[UPDATED 1/28/22 4:15 PM] It's been a very busy last 24 hours for both the Cedar Rapids police and fire departments. Police are investigating two murders and rescue crews helped to save a man inside a grain bin full of corn.
Cedar Rapids Police Murder Investigations
The Cedar Rapids Police Department has announced they are investigating the second murder in the city, in less than 18 hours.
Victim Found Friday Morning
In a media release, the CRPD says a call came into Cedar Rapids' Joint Communications Center a few minutes before 7:30 this morning. The caller said a person was down in Cedar Valley Park in the 2200 block of Blakely Blvd. SE. When officers arrived at the scene, they found "a deceased male lying in the parking lot who appeared to have sustained a gunshot wound(s)."
[UPDATED WITH VICTIM NAME]
Cedar Rapids Police say that, like a Thursday afternoon shooting, they believe it was a targeted incident. No arrests have been made. Friday afternoon, Cedar Rapids Police identified the victim as 22-year-old Kavon I. Johnson.
Anchor Jay Greene from our news partner, KCRG TV-9, reports there is a heavy police presence at Cedar Valley Park.
[UPDATED WITH VICTIM NAME] Thursday Afternoon Shooting
According to a media release from the Cedar Rapids Police Department, reports of shots fired in the 300 block of 31st Street Drive SE were received by the city's Joint Communications Center just before 2:40 p.m. Thursday afternoon. Responding officers found a deceased male in the street in that area. Police say he "appeared to have sustained a gunshot wound(s)."
Cedar Rapids Police say they believe the shooting was targeted. No arrests have been made in the case, which is the first murder in the city this year. The victim has been identified as 19-year-old Cordal R. Lewis.
Cedar Rapids Fire Department Among Those Who Rescue Man From Grain Bin
Just after 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon, the Cedar Rapids Fire Department was called to a farm in the 600 block of Tharp Road SW for the report of a man trapped in a 7,000-bushel grain bin.
According to a media release from the CRFD, they arrived to find a man entrapped in corn inside the bin. He was buried up to his chest after a cavity below gave way, sucking him into the grain. The man was conscious and able to communicate with rescue crews at the scene.
How Did They Save Him?
Rescue personnel got inside the bin, then used rescue techniques to stabilize and protect the man so that he wouldn't be further buried in the grain. The Cedar Rapids Fire Department says the corn was higher on one side of the man, leading to fears he might be buried even more than he already was. Augers and hand tools were used to get corn away from the victim's body. Crews from both the Cedar Rapids and Jefferson-Monroe (Swisher) Fire Departments also used saws to cut open the sides of the bin, releasing corn and pressure from inside. Vacuum trucks from Cedar Rapids Public Works were used to get the grain out of the inside, as well as the outside, of the bin.
The unnamed man was taken from one of the holes cut in the side of the grain bin at 4:38 p.m. He was treated at the scene and taken to St. Luke's Unity Point Hospital in Cedar Rapids to be evaluated. No update on his condition has been provided.