INDIANAPOLIS — A man was shot by an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer Friday morning near the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
"It's frustrating for the community obviously but its also frustrating for our officers," said IMPD Deputy Chief Michael Wolley.
According to IMPD, officers responded to 3900 block of Caroline Avenue around 11 in the morning on a call of someone firing shots. The caller reported that the person was acting erratically.
Police said they arrived on the scene and parked their patrol vehicles to create space between them and the suspect.
As they positioned themselves behind their vehicles, police said officers attempted to de-escalate the situation by giving verbal commands for the man to drop his firearm.
Officers then coordinated an arrest team to apprehend the suspect. As they approached the suspect, police said they continued to give verbal commands.
Initially, police said the suspect complied with officers commands and lied down with his weapon next to him.
According to police, based on initial investigations, detectives believe the suspect left his weapon in the original spot where he laid it down.
After the suspect was on the ground, police said they requested the suspect to walk towards them while they remained behind their patrol cars.
At this time, police said the suspect began to run towards the direction of his firearm. According to police, officers continued to give verbal commands, such as "Don't do that," to the suspect.
In an updated press release on Nov. 13, IMPD said detectives obtained additional video evidence that provided more clarity of this moment. The video, captured from the home's surveillance cameras, provided two new angles of the incident.
The new video shows that Mr. Hood fell to the ground, crawled to the gun, and picked up the gun before the officer discharged his firearm.
One IMPD officer then fired their service weapon. Police did not specify how many shots the officer fired. The officer was identified as 8-year veteran Patrol Officer Connor Finch.
The suspect was rendered medical aid at the scene and then transported to the hospital in "serious but stable condition," police said.
No officers were injured at the scene.
The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Dontriell Hood was arrested for resisting law enforcement and unlawful possession a firearm, both a level 6 felony, and criminal recklessness, a level 5 felony.
When asked about the mental state of the suspect, IMPD Deputy Chief Michael Wolley said they did receive information from his family after the shooting that there was possibly mental health issues involved.
This is the 15th officer-involved shooting in 2023 for IMPD.
"There are commonalities that we can definitely see," Wolley said. "One is there are a lot of people with firearms. Two, there are a lot of people that have firearms that should not have firearms involved in these incidents. And lastly, there are a lot of incidents when officers are giving clear and concise verbal commands and unfortunately actions are occurring and our officers are forced to react to those actions."
The officers involved were equipped with body-worn cameras during this incident.
The IMPD Critical Incident Response Team responded to the scene to conduct the criminal investigation. IMPD Internal Affairs is conducting a separate administrative investigation. The officer who fired their firearm has 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.
