By: Sam T. Jensen — [email protected]
Lu Verne, IA — A suspect in a robbery and fatal shooting at a Lu Verne bank Wednesday morning is currently in custody.
Ann Marie Thomas, a resident of Lu Verne, heard the gunfire Wednesday morning but didn’t think much of it.
“I heard one right after another, pop pop pop…” Thomas says she thought it might have been people setting off fireworks or shooting in their yard.
She started piecing things together when she heard police cars and an ambulance in that direction.
Once she saw the information about the shooting on Facebook, she immediately tried calling the bank. She was not able to get in touch with the Lu Verne location, but she called another branch and they informed her who the victim likely was.
“And my heart just sunk. It’s heartbreaking. Because, you know these people so well. You know their kids, their families… with it being this close to Christmas, and it’s absolutely heartbreaking, knowing now, that she’s gone.”
The Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office released the victim’s name Wednesday night, after informing next of kin. She was identified as Jessica Weishaar, 43, of Algona. Weishaar was an employee of Security State Bank in Lu Verne, where the shooting took place sometime after 8 A.M. Wednesday.
Thomas says Weishaar was incredibly kind and loved. She was “so bubbly and so happy, always had a smile on her face… just a lovely person.”
According to a statement from the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Valentino Williams, 35, of Coralville, has been charged with murder in the first degree and robbery in the first degree. Williams is currently being held in the Kossuth County Jail, pending his initial appearance.
The Iowa DCI was assisted in the manhunt by the Kossuth and Humboldt County Sheriff’s Offices and the Iowa State Patrol.