MUNCIE, Ind. — Just weeks apart from the first deadly shooting of the year in Muncie, police are now investigating the city’s second homicide.
On Tuesday, the Muncie Police Department identified 29-year-old Jamal Wallace as the man killed in a shooting on Saturday afternoon. This deadly incident comes in the same month as the city’s first homicide of the year. A teenager was shot and killed just a few weeks earlier on Aug. 15.
“To have our first homicide this late in the year is unusual,” said Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman. “Looking in years past, we’ve usually had some happen as early as January or February. And then we end up in double digits. This year is rather low.”
Despite the low numbers this year, Hoffman said he is not convinced the city’s numbers will be this low by the end of 2024.
“There’s no way we’re going to close out the year with only two, I’m fairly confident of that,” Hoffman said.
A sidewalk along south Blaine Street now sits painted in red and white remembering Saturday’s sudden loss of life. It is right down the street from where Muncie Parks Superintendent Carl Malone was celebrating Labor Day Weekend with his family on Saturday.
Though there have only been two deadly shootings so far in 2024, Malone said there have been several other shootings that have not been fatal. He said that even includes one that happened near a park on Friday.
“I can count the four to five to six that we’ve had in the city and they don’t always result in homicide, but they’re still violent acts,” Malone said. “We have to find a better way to conflict resolve where it doesn’t evolve into a shooting.”
Those “violent acts” are exactly what Prosecutor Hoffman said he worries about. His office filed 11 murder cases in 2022 and five in 2023. Though the number of murder cases has dropped, Hoffman said he is not convinced that paints the full picture.
“Crime is still going on,” he said. “The fact we’ve had the second homicide quote-on-quote this ‘late in the year’ does not mean that crime is down.”
Despite the drop in murder cases, Hoffman said the trends in data show the city deals with several violent crimes.
“Some of the cases are criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, dangerous possession of a firearm, intimidation with a deadly weapon,” he listed.
The prosecutor said many cases have involved minors, but Hoffman said the juvenile court system has often denied his office from filing charges in many of those cases.
“[The juvenile system denied] 48 cases of battery, 23 cases of domestic battery, 14 cases of intimidation and 40 cases of leaving home without permission,” he said. “And we wonder why we have such a juvenile crime problem.”
Six people, including juveniles, were arrested in connection to the city’s first fatal shooting this year. While this latest case is still under investigation, Prosecutor Hoffman said he worries a revolving door effect involving juveniles has led to significant crime concerns.
“Juveniles are allowed, if not emboldened, to commit crime with impunity,” he said. “Delinquents are running around committing crime, victimizing people and they’re never being held accountable. Nobody’s being held accountable for this. The ultimate result is that revolving door because once you get to commit a crime with impunity and you’re not held accountable, you’re going to do it again.”
Hoffman argues this is an issue that desperately needs to be addressed in order to help reduce overall violent crime.
As police continue to investigate these most recent fatal shootings, Malone said the city is trying to increase the number of initiatives to help combat crime.
“I feel like we’re behind the eight ball as it relates to resources and educating households,” he said. “We are going to bring in all the youth from various neighborhoods and various groups to talk and let the kids have an opportunity to say what they see and how they feel about guns as they walk up and down the streets.”
Malone, who serves on the Mayor’s anti-violence taskforce, said he is also exploring partnerships with Ball State University and the Delaware County Health Department.
The Muncie Police Department said Saturday’s shooting is still under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact police.
