(Council Bluffs) A 40-year-old Atlantic man has been found guilty by a jury in connection with a July shooting that injured a woman on Interstate 80 in Council Bluffs.
Daniel Raymond Jensen was found guilty by a jury on Thursday. He was convicted of Attempt to Commit Murder, Willful Injury Causing Bodily Injury, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, and Going Armed With Intent.
Jensen was accused of shooting his ex-girlfriend, Rikki Aherns (33), on July 27, 2026, while driving alongside her on westbound I-80 in Council Bluffs. Jensen’s criminal trial commenced on Tuesday, October 27th, and was personally prosecuted by Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber with assistance from Assistant County Attorney James Hansen.
Closing arguments finished late morning Thursday and the jury returned a guilty verdict on all four counts after deliberating for approximately ninety (90) minutes.
On July 20th, Daniel Jensen was served with a protection order against him directing him to stay away from his ex-girlfriend, Rikki Aherns. Just seven days later, on July 27th, Rikki was driving from a nail appointment in Council Bluffs over to Omaha when Jensen drove up alongside her on westbound I-80 near the 24th Street bridge. Rikki saw the defendant and reached for her phone to call for help. As she put the phone up to her face, Jensen fired five shots. One of those shots struck the driver’s door of Rikki’s blue Nissan Sentra, two shots hit and destroyed the phone that she was holding by her face, and two shots struck Rikki in the shoulder. Council Bluffs and DOT traffic cameras, as well as pictures from automatic license plate reader cameras, were instrumental in prosecuting this case.
Wilber stated, “I want to personally thank the Council Bluffs Police Department – particularly Detective Jon Meyer, Detective Clayton Juhl, and Crime Scene Investigator Kailey Lazenby – for the fine work on this case. I also want to thank my office staff (including legal assistants, Shelly Miles and Jennifer Wallner, and victim witness coordinator, Hope Rodarte) for keeping this case organized and on track. Finally, I want to thank Rikki for trusting us with the prosecution of this case. Getting out of an abusive relationship is difficult, and facing the man down in court who tried to take her life back in July took an incredible amount of courage. Rikki’s credible testimony was undoubtedly a big factor in the quick verdict by the jury in this case.”
Chief Judge Craig Dreismeier presided over the trial and has set sentencing for 9 a.m. on December 10, 2026, on the Fourth Floor of the Pottawattamie County Courthouse. Jensen faces a 25-year prison sentence with a mandatory minimum of 17.5 years to be served before he will be eligible for parole on the Attempted Murder count, as well as potential 5-year prison sentences on each of the remaining counts.
