What we know about the 15th shooting involving Indianapolis police this year
Update: Indianapolis Metropolitan Police on Nov. 14 identified the officer who fired his weapon as 8-year veteran Patrol Officer Connor Finch. This article was updated Nov. 13, 2023 with more information on the man shot by police and additional information on what led to the shooting.
One man is in serious condition and is facing charges after he was injured in the 15th shooting involving Indianapolis police this year on Friday morning.
It was the 11th shooting involving officers in the city since just Aug. 1. Leadership with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has acknowledged the skyrocketing use of deadly force and promised to bring in an outside consultant to help find out what’s driving the shootings.
"It's frustrating for the community, obviously, but it's frustrating for our officers,” said IMPD Deputy Chief Michael Wolley II from the scene of Friday’s shooting.
The man injured in the shooting was identified as 31-year-old Dontriell Hood.
Officers were first called to the 3900 block of Caroline Avenue on the north side of the city on a report of Hood firing shots around 11 a.m. The caller reported Hood was displaying "erratic behavior,” Wolley said.
Police arrived and parked their patrol vehicles in the street to create space from Hood. The officers tried to de-escalate the situation by giving Hood commands to drop the firearm from behind their squad cars, according to the police department.
More: Indianapolis plans to hire consultant to investigate skyrocketing use of deadly force
Officers continued giving verbal commands for Hood to lie on the ground and not to move. Initially, he complied with officers and laid down with the gun next to him, Wolley said.
After the gun was on the ground, officers requested Hood stand up and walk toward them.
"As officers continued to give verbal commands, the suspect stopped, turned away from the officers and began rapidly moving in the direction where the firearm was,” Wolley said. “Officers continued to give verbal commands by saying, 'Don't do that.'"
Hood continued to move toward the gun on the ground and an officer fired their weapon at the man, Wolley said.
In an update from police three days after the shooting, investigators said two new angles from a home surveillance camera showed Hood moved quickly in the direction of the gun, went past the gun, fell to the ground, crawled to the gun and picked it up before the officer shot him.
Officers rendered aid and applied a tourniquet before medics arrived. Hood was transported to a hospital in serious, but stable condition.
He has been charged with resisting law enforcement, unlawful carrying of a handgun and criminal recklessness.
No officers or uninvolved citizens were hurt. After the shooting, police received information from the man's family that he suffers from mental health issues.
Wolley did not have an update on department leadership’s promise to hire an outside consultant to help investigate the recent streak of officer shootings. He did say there have already been some commonalities identified in the recent police shootings.
“One is there are a lot of people with firearms,” Wolley said. “Two is there are a lot of people with firearms that should not have firearms involved in these incidents. Lastly, there are several incidents where our officers are giving clear and concise verbal commands and unfortunately actions are occurring, and our officers are forced to react to those actions."
Brian Parker, who has lived in the neighborhood where the shooting happened for the past 10 years, watched from behind crime scene tape as police collected evidence and investigated.
Other neighbors stood on their front lawns and porches to watch, while one worried that he might have known the person shot by police. For Parker, he is fully aware of the number of recent police shootings in the city.
“I don't think this normal,” Parker said. “This can't be normal.”
Parker has lived in Indianapolis his whole life. He wondered if any of the officers on scene in the normally quiet neighborhood had visited before the shooting.
More: Every time Indianapolis police have shot a person so far in 2023
“I haven't seen any of them trying to communicate with people in the neighborhood before today,” Parker said. “They want people to help police out, but they aren’t knocking on these doors saying, 'Hi,' before this happens."
IMPD’s critical incident response team is investigating, while the department’s internal affairs unit is conducting a separate administrative inquiry.
The officer who fired his gun has been placed on administrative leave as is standard procedure.
The civilian-majority use of force review board will conduct a mandatory hearing at the conclusion of the criminal investigation.
Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call IMPD's homicide office at 317-327-3475 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana to remain anonymous at 317-262-8477.
Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis police involved in shooting, man seriously injured but stable
