08/21/2025
Shot by police in a park, homeless immigrant in Denison died wearing a friend’s clothes
By DOUGLAS BURNS
For The Denison Free Press
The 36-year-old homeless immigrant shot and killed by Denison police in Washington Park Friday night had showered and cleaned himself up at a friends’ house blocks away in the hours before the deadly encounter.
The man, Feglys Campos, originally from Cuba and, according to friends and coworkers, a former employee at Smithfield Foods in Denison, was wearing a friend’s clothes when he died. His own clothes, and a towel he used at the friend’s house, remained in a dumpster outside the home two days after he died.
“The clothes that he had on were my husband’s clothes because we gave him clean clothes,” said one Denison resident, a Latina immigrant who declined to provide her name for fear of retaliation by authorities.
Denison Police said an officer responded to a call for service at the park at 11:30 p.m. Friday and found Campos - whose full name is Feglys Antonio Campos Arriba.
“Campos became uncooperative and a physical confrontation ensued,” the Denison Police Department said in a statement. “During the physical confrontation the officer sustained serious physical injuries and fired his weapon. Campos died at the scene.”
The officer, who is not being named by authorities, was taken to the hospital, treated for injuries and released. The officer is on paid administrative leave in accordance with department policy.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating the shooting. DCI’s findings will then be turned over to the Crawford County Attorney and Iowa Attorney General’s offices for review.
The Denison Police Department and DCI had no further details when reached by The Denison Free Press.
Campos’s sister, Anhara Campos of Valencia, Spain, confirmed he was dead in a phone interview Sunday night with The Denison Free Press, but she had not been contacted by authorities. Police released his name Monday.
“He was very affectionate,” Anhara Campos said. “He laughed about everything.”
Anhara Campos said her brother was looking for a better life in the United States. He went on to technical school after high school in Cuba, she said.
“All the family loved him very much and we still can’t believe any of what has happened,” Anhara Campos said through an interpreter.
She found out he was killed from the posts on social media. Campos was the oldest of four siblings and had a 10-year-old daughter.
Hours before the deadly shooting, a friend saw Campos in Washington Park.
“He said, ‘I need a favor,’” the friend said, replying to Campos that, “Yeah, what is it? If it’s something in my power, I’d be glad to.”
Campos responded, according to the friend, “Yeah, it’s within your power. Can you give me a hug?”
Friends, who all declined to be named in the story, said they last saw Campos at 8:33 p.m. Friday. They know the exact time because they snapped a photo.
“We brought him a comforter when we found out” he was staying at the park, one friend said.
Campos had earned a reputation as a hard worker, friends said.
“I saw him every day at work,” said a former coworker at Smithfield. “He never missed work. He never came late to work. His work mates always spoke very well of him.”
The coworker added, “He didn’t fight with anyone. He was very respectful. He always helped out. He always had a smile for everyone. He was a person who was educated in Cuba. He came here for a better life.”
A Smithfield Foods spokesman, reached by The Denison Free Press, said he could not comment on internal personnel matters.
Friends said Campos lost his employment because of the Trump administration’s elimination of the humanitarian work program for certain Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan nationals in the United States. More than 500,000 people have to come the United States through the policy, known as CHNV, since 2022. They were required to have financial sponsors.
“The problem wasn’t that he necessarily stopped working or left work,” a co-worker said. “It was because of the immigration problems right now. They revoked the work authorizations.”
“He had lost his job through no fault of his own,” that coworker said.
Friends aren’t sure when Campos lost his apartment in Denison and began staying at the park. Campos lost his job about a month ago, friends said.
“They didn’t take just him out, they took many Cubans,” a coworker said of Smithfield. “They didn’t allow them to continue working.”
A memorial for Campos is growing, with flowers and photos and other mementos, on the north side of Highway 30 in Denison, a location where friends say Campos would sit in a chair.
