INDIANAPOLIS — Metro police have released the identities of the seven officers who fired their service weapons after a 21-year-old man opened fire on police last month on the city's northeast side.
According to a report from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, IMPD Chief Randal Taylor on Tuesday identified the officers involved in the Feb. 23 officer-involved shooting in the 3300 block of Forest Manor Avenue as Michael Antonelli, an 18-year veteran; Jai'dion Broader, a 6-year veteran; Christopher Cooper, a 12-year veteran; Brad Harvey, a 27-year veteran; Jered Hidlebaugh, a 12-year veteran; Jose Navarro, a 13-year veteran; and Lee Rabensteine, a 12-year veteran.
None of the seven officers have a disciplinary record with IMPD, according to personnel records released Tuesday by the department.
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Police have said officers from IMPD's SWAT Quick Response Force, along with officers, detectives and ATF agents from the Crime Gun Intelligence Center, were tracking a Tavon Macklin, 21, who is wanted on two felony robbery warrants stemming from community corrections violations. Police also said at the time Macklin was wanted for questioning in a homicide investigation, however, he has since been charged in Marion Superior Court with murder, robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, armed robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon in the Jan. 17, 2021 shooting death of Justin White, 29, in the 2900 block of South Keystone Avenue.
IMPD on Tuesday confirmed Macklin's involvement in both incidents.
During the incident, police said officers identified Macklin in a vehicle traveling south in the 3300 block of Forest Manor Avenue. The officers conducted a traffic stop and the vehicle briefly stopped before fleeing a short distance. Officers used a pursuit intervention technique to stop the vehicle.
Macklin, who was the front-seat passenger, got out of the vehicle and began shooting at officers, striking an occupied police vehicle several times, police said. Officers returned fired. Macklin was rendered aid by a SWAT medic who was on scene until Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services arrived and took him to the hospital.
The incident remains under investigation by IMPD's Critical Incident Response Team and the Marion County Prosecutor's Office. A separate internal investigation remains ongoing by IMPD's Internal Affairs Unit to ensure compliance with departmental policy, which is a standard procedure in an officer-involved shooting.
The incident will also be reviewed by the civilian-majority Use of Force Review Board, which will make an advisory finding about whether the officers' actions were within departmental policy.
