INDIANAPOLIS — Two people are in critical condition after being shot by Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department SWAT officers Friday night in downtown Indy near Lucas Oil Stadium.
Police say officers were initially called the 2200 block of South Shelby Street on a report of an armed robbery of a business just after 9 p.m. Officers were given a description of the suspect vehicle.
IMPD Ofc. William Young said , IMPD Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and Covert Robbery Detectives located the suspect vehicle in the 600 block of South Missouri Street. Officers attempted to do a pursuit prevention technique on a vehicle.
While performing the technique, the front passenger began firing shots at officers. This led to an exchange of gunfire that resulted in one man and one woman being shot, Young said. Both were transported to area hospitals in critical condition. Young also confirmed that no events were happening in the area at the time of the shooting.
Police say multiple officers were equipped with body-worn cameras, which were activated during the incident, and a police in-car dash camera.
Police say the they were able to locate the suspect’s gun at the apprehension site.
IMPD is not currently looking for any other suspects in connection to the incident. Investigators are still canvassing the downtown scene to gather more evidence.
IMPD said no officers were injured during the encounter.
The IMPD Critical Incident Response team is handling the criminal investigation of the incident, while the IMPD Internal Affairs is conducting a separate administrative investigation. The officers who fired their firearms have been placed on administrative leave, as is standard procedure in an officer-involved shooting investigation.
The civilian-majority Use of Force Review Board will conduct a mandatory hearing for any attempted use of deadly force against a person. This occurs after the conclusion of the criminal process.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Erika Jones at the homicide office at 317-327-3475. Alternatively, anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 317-262-TIPS.
This marks the fifth officer-involved shooting in Indianapolis since the start of August.
A man wielding a machete was shot and killed on Aug. 27 following an hours-long standoff. Before that, an officer shot and killed 49-year-old Gary Dwayne Harrell on Aug. 3 as he ran away during a traffic stop armed with a weapon in his hand.
24-year-old Brandon Ramirez was shot by officers on Sept. 1 during a break-in at a business on Indy’s south side that also resulted in a police K9 being stabbed. Just this week, Eric Taylor was shot and killed by an IMPD officer on Sept. 19 after police say he ignored commands to drop his weapon and threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend and her kids.
This is a developing story and more information will be added as it becomes available.
