A man faces charges that include attempted murder and resisting law enforcement for allegedly shooting and injuring an Indianapolis police officer Feb. 27 in Fountain Square.
The officer who was shot, Thomas “Tommy” Mangan II, has a traumatic throat injury “that he’s going to have to deal with for a while,” Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Randal Taylor said at a press conference March 8.
Police also shot the suspect, identified as 31-year-old Mylik Hill, who is recovering in a local hospital.
Hill faces 10 total charges: two counts of attempted murder, six counts of resisting law enforcement, one count of criminal mischief and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon.
The range of penalties for attempted murder is 20-40 years, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said.
Charges were filed in Criminal Court 27. It isn’t clear when the case will go to court because Hill is still recovering.
“No one goes into this job thinking that they’re going to be immune from danger,” Taylor said. “However, we don’t often think that we’re going to be shot in the scenario such as this when you’re going to serve.”
Suspect flees, shoots at police
According to court documents, a person called the non-emergency dispatch line to report that a Black man driving a red vehicle hit the fence in front of her house and a truck across the street before getting out of the car and urinating in the street.
IMPD officers Mangan and Daniel Majors were dispatched at 10:05 p.m. Mangan was newly out of the police training academy and had only been on the streets training for about three weeks, police said.
Two other officers found the red car on State Street. The car was parked and still running with Hill behind the wheel, documents say.
Mangan and Majors, along with two other officers, arrived at the scene behind the car.
Hill “immediately opened the driver’s door and began to exit the car while keeping his back to the officers with his hands in front of him,” documents say. The six officers got out of their vehicles, and Majors began yelling “Stop, police, show me your hands.”
Hill then ran to his right into a yard, and all six officers chased him into a dirt parking area.
Mangan then “cut back to the right, gaining on Mylik Hill,” documents say. “Officer Mangan reached out towards Mylik Hill’s back with both hands in what appeared to be a takedown.”
That’s when Hill pulled a pistol and fired two shots. One bullet hit Mangan’s police radio on the left side of his belt, but the other “struck in the center of his throat at the base of his neck,” documents say. The other officers took cover behind a parked car.
Officer Majors returned fire and ordered Hill to drop his gun, but Hill continued to shoot toward Majors at a distance of 10-35 feet, documents say.
Hill was shot twice in the chest and once in the thigh.
Officers moved Mangan toward the street for medical treatment, and there was an “explosion” as his police radio caught fire and engulfed his left side in flames. He was taken to a hospital and, as of March 8, remained in “serious but stable condition with severe damage to his throat.”
Court documents say Hill hid in a backyard until police found him at 10:54 p.m.
‘Do you feel like you could’ve done more?’
Hill spent about 8 1/2 years at Putnamville Correctional Facility for an armed robbery in 2011. He was released on parole in February 2021.
On Jan. 31, 2022, Hill was allegedly the getaway driver for a man who stole electronics and clothes from a Walmart. Hill was out of jail on $500 bail as of Feb. 1.
Hill also had an outstanding warrant for a parole violation.
Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police President Rick Snyder was in the back of the press conference room March 8 and shouted questions at Mears as Mears walked out of the room afterward.
“Do you feel like you could’ve done more?” he shouted.
Mears looked back through the window but continued walking away.
During the press conference, Mears said Hill posted bond and was released by about 1:30 a.m. Feb. 1, and the prosecutor’s office didn’t get the case until after that.
“It’s an issue of timing,” he said. “The bond was posted before we had an opportunity to make a decision or weigh in on a charging decision.”
Snyder said it’s fair to ask why Hill was allowed out on bond with a parole violation.
“This officer is fighting for his recovery,” Snyder said of Mangan, “and there’s questions of whether or not this could have been prevented. All’s we want is answers.”
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853 or email at tylerf@indyrecorder.com. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
