The Lake County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a Gary officer-involved shooting that left a 38-year-old man dead.
At about 8:38 p.m. Tuesday, sheriff’s department officers responded to a call in the 2200 block of Carolina Street to assist Gary police with an armed hostage situation, according to a release from the Lake County Sheriff’s Department. Upon arrival, a woman told police that her boyfriend had taken drugs and locked himself in a room with their 1-year-old child and a gun, a Gary Police release stated.
About 20 minutes later, police received a call about a 35-year-old man being shot in the arm at the residence. He told police that he had gone to the house to get the child, his nephew, but was shot and fled to a nearby residence, police said. He refused medical treatment at the scene.
Officers made contact with the suspect — a 38-year-old man. Police could hear the baby crying inside, but couldn’t see the child. Gary Police tried to speak to the man through a back door, trying to de-escalate the situation, but the man shot through the door four times in the direction of officers, the release stated.
Police helped secure the perimeter around the building and alerted the Gary Police SWAT team. As the suspect was resisting de-escalation efforts and shooting at officers, the SWAT team breached the residence with a ram, police said. A drone showed the man had gone to the second floor with his child.
Tear gas was deployed by police. The man eventually walked out of an apartment around 4:20 a.m. holding a 1-year-old boy and waving a gun, police said.
As the man ran toward his vehicle and officers, a Gary police officer opened fire, and the suspect was later pronounced dead at the scene, the release stated.
The child was unharmed, but taken to Methodist Hospital Northlake as a precaution and the Department of Family Services was notified.
Everyone involved in the incident has been left unnamed as the investigation is ongoing.
“Our community is deeply saddened by this tragic incident that began as a family matter but escalated into a critical public safety situation involving a young child,” Gary Chief of Police Derrick Cannon said in a statement. “I commend the officers who responded to this dangerous scene where the subject repeatedly fired at officers. I also extend my sincere gratitude to Lake County Sheriff, Oscar Martinez for providing additional resources, including their Police Assisted Recovery Initiative (PARI) team with licensed social workers who supported our negotiators’ de-escalation efforts.”
