One man killed, 17 wounded in shooting on Muncie's east side
MUNCIE, Ind. — One man was killed and 17 other people were wounded early Sunday in a shooting at Willard and Hackley streets on Muncie's east side.
Delaware County Coroner Gavin Greene later identified the victim of the fatal shooting as Joseph E. Bonner III, a 30-year-old Muncie resident.
Deputy Police Chief Melissa Criswell said Sunday morning that "multiple victims" were being treated at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, with some suffering from critical injuries being transferred by medical helicopter to other facilities.
"All scenes are contained and there is no immediate threat to public safety," Criswell said in a release.
Neil Gifford of IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital said 19 patients were brought from the shooting scene to the Muncie hospital.
Other sources said 18 of those people, including Bonner, were believed to have suffered gunshot wounds.
Four victims were then transferred to other hospitals, presumably in Indianapolis.
Thirteen of the victims were admitted to the Muncie hospital.
Emergency dispatchers received reports of the gunfire at 1:14 a.m., resulting in city police and Muncie Fire Department emergency medical personnel being sent to the scene.
Initial indications were that a large party was being held when the shootings occurred.
"Due to the number of victims and nature of the incident, multiple agencies were contacted to assist," Criswell said.
Those agencies included the Delaware County Sheriff's Department, Indiana State Police and officers from the Ball State University, Ball Memorial Hospital and Eaton police departments.
Officers remained at the scene, with crime scene tape used to mark off a large area, late Sunday morning. Several evidence markers, sometimes used to mark shell casings at shooting scenes, were visible in the intersection.
Late in the afternoon, however, there appeared to be nothing left at the intersection that indicated anything unusual had taken place there.
By early Sunday evening, information had not been released concerning the events leading to the shootings, or whether more than one shooter was responsible.
No related arrests had apparently been made.
In a release Sunday evening, Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman said it was "too early in the investigation for me to say much."
Hoffman indicated he had been in touch with Police Chief Nate Sloan and was receiving updates.
"There are far too many guns on the street and I certainly question the wisdom of someone having a huge outdoor party with several hundred people, including juveniles, carrying on into the early morning hours," the prosecutor said.
"Let’s take a dose of reality. This is not the Vegas strip or Times Square. This is a residential neighborhood.”
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to the Muncie Police Department's detective division at 765-747-4867 or dispatchers at 765-747-4838.
(This story will be updated.)
Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: One man killed, 17 wounded in shooting on Muncie's east side
