Two men convicted in 2018 Ottumwa shootout

OTTUMWA — A Wapello County jury handed down a verdict April 1, convicting one man of attempted murder and another of assault and robbery in relation to a 2018 shootout where the Ottumwa police chief’s vehicle was hit with bullets.

Michael Bibby, 35, of Ottumwa, was found guilty of the attempted murder of former Police Chief Tom McAndrew, while another man, Dalton Cook, 26, formerly of Fairfield, was convicted of assault, robbery, burglary and willful injury. Cook was acquitted of attempted murder.

Bibby and Cook will be sentenced April 19. Bibby faces up to 87 years in prison, and Cook faces up to 62 years.

Bibby and Cook were convicted of crimes that allegedly occurred on Aug. 3 in Ottumwa. They were two of the three suspects accused of firing at police near Liberty Elementary School. The third suspect, David Roy White, 35, of Fairfield, was killed during the shootout.

The Ottumwa Police Department received a 911 call of a person being shot with a rifle at 831 S. Lillian St. in Ottumwa. That person was transported to a hospital and treated for their injuries. Witnesses reported that three male subjects dressed in dark clothing, wearing masks, and armed with rifles, had shot the male victim, and had run toward the Wapello County Rural Fire Department.

Responding officers traveled behind the Wapello County Rural Fire Department and some went to the parking lot of Liberty Elementary School to prevent the subjects from reaching the school. The three subjects were spotted running through a drainage area located between the school parking lot and a berm south of the school, less than 300 feet from the school.

As soon as officers arrived on the scene, they repeatedly ordered the subjects to stop and drop their weapons. Bibby was accused of firing a rifle at an Ottumwa Police Department vehicle driven by Police Chief Tom McAndrew, which included shooting out the passenger window in McAndrew’s vehicle. After McAndrew called for backup, a shootout ensued between law enforcement officers and the three suspects, who took cover in a soybean field. During the shootout, White was shot and killed.