Indianapolis police originally said officers shot a man Sept. 21 at an apartment complex after the man shot at them first, but now police say the man only pointed a gun at officers.
Police responded Sept. 20 to a “large disturbance involving a firearm” at apartments on the 4500 block of East Pleasant Run Parkway North Drive, according to an incident brief from Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
“When officers arrived, they saw a large active disturbance and encountered an armed suspect who fired an unknown amount of shots at the officers,” the brief said. “Those officers engaged the suspect returning fire, shooting the suspect.”
IMPD sent an updated incident brief the next day, which said “Person #1 pointed a weapon at the officers” before one officer shot him.
He was taken to a hospital and listed in stable condition.
IMPD did not identify the officer who shot the man but said he is on administrative leave, which is standard procedure for these incidents.
IMPD’s Critical Incident Response Team is investigating the shooting, and IMPD’s Internal Affairs Unit is investigating whether officers followed department policy. The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office is involved and will be consulted throughout the process.
IMPD’s use-of-force policies, which were updated in July, says officers “must use only proportionate force,” which is the “minimum amount of force that is required, based on the circumstances known to the officer, to achieve the officer’s legitimate law enforcement objectives.”
It also says proportionate force “does not necessarily require officers to use the same type or
amount of force as the person. The more immediate the threat and the more likely the threat will result in death or serious physical injury, the greater the level of force may be required to counter it.”
Police also found two adult women at the scene with injuries consistent with gunshot wounds. They were taken to a hospital and listed in stable condition.
Police believe the disturbance, which included roughly 20 people, started with a disagreement on social media.
