Council Bluffs shooting sent woman, 21, to hospitals in two cities

Two hospitals in two cities: a 21-year-old woman needed treatment in Council Bluffs and then Omaha after she was shot at an apartment complex on Friday evening, October 23, 2026. Police said they had identified a suspect, but that person was not in custody in the October 24 reporting. Two people arrested at the scene faced separate allegations; neither was identified as the shooting suspect. ^{1 2}

The woman’s last verified condition was serious but stable. That is an October 24 account, not a confirmed October 26 medical update. No subsequent arrest or change in her condition has been verified, and police had not released her name or the identified suspect’s name in those reports. ^{1 3}

Police and firefighters were dispatched at approximately 7:26 p.m. CDT on October 23 to Featherstone Apartments, 901 North 35th Street, for a report of an assault. Officers found the woman outside, behind the complex’s C building, with injuries to her upper and lower body, according to the police account carried by Western Iowa Today. ¹

Investigators interviewed several witnesses. They said multiple people had gathered inside an apartment when an argument broke out and the woman was shot. That account establishes the reported sequence, but not what prompted the argument, how the people knew one another or whether the woman was the intended target. The public account does not identify who fired. ^{1 3}

Council Bluffs Fire Rescue took her to a hospital in the city. Medical staff stabilized her and treated her for at least one gunshot wound before she was transferred to an Omaha hospital for further treatment. Neither hospital was named. The references to upper- and lower-body injuries do not establish how many times she was shot; the supported minimum is one gunshot wound. ^{1 3}

The condition language needs care. KETV, WOWT and Western Iowa Today reported on October 24 that she was in serious but stable condition. KMTV’s October 24 article called her condition critical in its opening, but serious but stable in its body. That internal inconsistency does not establish that she deteriorated, or provide a newer medical status. Nor does “stable” establish that she had recovered. ^{1 2 3 4}

The distinction between the identified suspect and the two people arrested at Featherstone is essential. An arrest made while officers investigate a shooting is not necessarily an arrest for that shooting. In this case, the reported allegations against the two named people concerned conduct at the scene and a no-contact order. ^{1 2}

Tiffany Russell, 44, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on allegations of interference with official acts and disobedience to a police officer. Police said she failed to follow officers’ instructions and attempted to enter the crime scene, according to Western Iowa Today’s October 24 report. ¹

Riley French, 27, also of Council Bluffs, was arrested for an alleged no-contact order violation. Police said officers learned that an order was in place involving someone at the residence. The available account does not explain that person’s role in the gathering or the shooting. ¹

Neither arrest establishes responsibility for the woman’s injuries. The allegations are not proof of guilt, and Russell and French are presumed innocent unless proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court. ¹

The supported timing is Friday evening. KMA’s October 24 story included an isolated reference to “early Friday morning,” but the same article placed dispatch shortly before 7:30 p.m. KETV and Western Iowa Today gave approximately 7:26 p.m.; WOWT rounded the time to around 7:30 p.m. Those accounts do not establish a separate morning incident. ^{1 2 3 5}

Anyone with information can contact the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division at 712-328-4728. Anonymous information can be provided to CrimeStoppers at 712-328-7867 or through the city’s online crime-tip form. ^{1 3}