IMPD: Wanted man killed by police on Indy's east side

A man is dead after he exchanged gunfire with police on the east side of Indianapolis on Thursday evening, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

It's the first time an IMPD officer has fatally shot a person so far in 2024 after 17 shootings that killed or injured civilians last year.

No officers were hurt in the shooting Thursday.

Police were attempting to take the 44-year-old man into custody during a “high-risk traffic stop” before the gunfire started, said IMPD Acting Police Chief Christopher Bailey.

Officers, who were looking for the man, found him getting into the passenger side of a vehicle in the 2600 block of Brookside Parkway North Drive around 5:30 p.m.

He was wanted on a warrant for charges of possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, criminal recklessness, pointing a firearm and invasion of privacy, Bailey said. The warrant stemmed from an incident earlier this month in which police say the man fired shots at people he knew at an east side home.

Officers conducting the traffic stop did not approach the man’s vehicle but instead were using verbal commands and their police vehicles as cover before the shooting, Bailey said.

More: Every time Indianapolis police shot a person in 2023

“An officer was using their PA system to order the persons out of the car and within seconds, the suspect exited the vehicle on the passenger side with a handgun,” Bailey said. “Detectives believe that the suspect fired at officers first. The officers returned fire.”

The man was transported to a hospital in critical condition after he was shot. He died at the hospital and his identity has not yet been released by officials.

"We wish he had not made that decision” to shoot at officers, Bailey said. “We wish he would have complied like the driver did in that car and that he went to jail for the warrant.”

The driver of the man’s vehicle complied with commands from officers and was taken into custody uninured, Bailey said.

Detectives found a firearm at the scene that they believe belonged to the man, and one police car was struck by multiple bullets.

More: Indianapolis police shootings highest in years. What is going on?

Three officers fired their weapons in the shooting. IMPD’s Critical incident response team is investigating, while the department’s internal affairs unit is conducting a separate administrative inquiry. The officers' body-worn cameras were active and running.

The officers who fired their guns have been placed on administrative leave, as is standard procedure in situations where deadly force is used.

The civilian-majority Use of Force Review Board will conduct a hearing, as is mandatory when deadly force is used against a person. This occurs after the conclusion of the criminal process.

The man killed by officers was not legally allowed to possess firearms due to a prior criminal conviction, Bailey said.

“The amount of weapons in the hands of the people who are not allowed to have them is a significant problem, not only for our community but communities across the country,” Bailey said.

The department is moving forward with plans to engage an outside expert to examine an increase in officer-involved shootings that began last year.

“We will continue to look for ways that we as a police department can mitigate these type of encounters,” Bailey said. “We don't want them to happen. At the end of the day, our officers respond ... to the actions of the people we have no control over."

Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IMPD: Wanted man killed by police on Indy's east side