340 miles today in off and on rain. We stopped twice, for lunch in Des Moines and at a terrific antique shop in the tiny town of Walnut, Iowa. On route, we heard on the radio that a prisoner had escaped and shot 2 policemen in Council Bluffs, Iowa earlier today. As we drove through that city on our way to our hotel just southwest of Omaha we saw a caravan of police cars and motorcycles with lights flashing.
Turns out the prisoner, on trial for murder, while being transported from the courthouse back to jail,  somehow attacked his handler, got his gun and shot 2 police. One was killed. He escaped in the transport van, shot a civilian while taking another car and led police on a chase. He was captured in Omaha after crashing. The death was the first in 37 years for the Council Bluffs Police Dept. The caravan of police we passed was escorting his body.