INDIANAPOLIS — The man accused of stabbing two Indianapolis police officers in an ambush-style attack said his goal was to kill one of them before they killed him.
"I was gonna kill an officer," the 20-year-old man told a detective Wednesday, just hours after police say he stabbed one officer in the neck and another in the chest during an "unprovoked attack" on the city's north side.
"He said he didn't want to kill a lot of officers, he just wanted to kill one," Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Sgt. Michael Duke wrote in a preliminary probable cause affidavit filed Wednesday. "He said he hoped to get the gun from the officer he killed and then have the other officer shoot him, and that would get him justice."
According to the affidavit, the man called 911 at 1:11 a.m. Wednesday to report a person causing a disturbance in the 1400 block of Fairfield Avenue, just south of the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Officers arrived and the suspect told them he was being harassed by another man and pointed where that man had gone.
READ | Two IMPD officers stabbed, suspect shot
One officer said "we'll go look for him," and both officers started to walk that way when the suspect attacked them. Both officers pulled their guns and shot the suspect multiple times, according to the affidavit.
More officers responded to the scene and rendered aid to the wounded officers and suspect. They are credited with using a trauma kit to save the life of the officer who was stabbed in the neck.
That officer suffered a lacerated outer jugular vein and underwent successful surgery at Eskenazi Hospital on Wednesday, according to the affidavit. The officer with the chest wound was treated at Eskenazi and released.
The suspect was treated at IU Health Methodist Hospital for "numerous through and through gunshot wounds" before being transferred to the secure facility at Eskenazi.
The suspect was at Eskenazi when he allegedly confessed to Duke.
Duke said the man told him he felt the city owed him because he had just received a large medical bill that he could not pay and he wanted to take it out on the officers.
"He said he just wanted to die," Duke wrote. "I asked him what his plan was, and he said, 'Get my own justice.'"
The suspect was held Thursday in the Marion County Jail, records show. A hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 7.
The suspect was on GPS monitoring while he awaits trial for a felony charge of burglary. Records show he was released from jail in this case in April after The Bail Project posted a $750 cash bond.
"The Bail Project provided bail assistance of $750 for (the suspect) in April of this year," National Director of Operations David Gaspar said in an email to WRTV.
"He had no previous criminal record. The (then) 19-year-old was released on GPS monitoring and was living in a shelter at the time. Prior to this latest incident, he was charged with a misdemeanor and released on own recognizance by the court.
"It is clear from the recent events that he's struggling with his mental health and this is a cry for help."
Contact WRTV reporter Vic Ryckaert at victor.ryckaert@wrtv.com or on Twitter: @vicryc.
