PUBLIC SAFETY

16 officers fired 200 rounds in gunbattle with shooting suspect

Vic Ryckaert, Michael Anthony Adams, and Jill Disis
IndyStar
Neighbors in the 2700 block of Newton Avenue watch as police process the scene of a fatal officer involved shooting Monday night.

The intensity of Monday night's gunbattle between police and an armed man can be illustrated by the numbers: 16 officers fired 200 rounds over four minutes in a small space between the mouth of an alleyway and the road it connected to on Indianapolis' southeast side.

That was after a lengthy pursuit that started on the northwest side and stretched across the city. During the 25-minute chase, police said the man fired multiple rounds at officers who pursued him. By the end, one officer was shot, another was injured and the suspect, 32-year-old Jeff Cornell Tyson, was dead.

It was a harrowing scene that, to those listening over police radio traffic, made the hairs on the backs of their necks stand up, said Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Major Richard Riddle.

IMPD officer shot during traffic stop; suspect has died

The ordeal started at 6:40 p.m. when police pulled over an older Oldsmobile at a gas station near Georgetown Road and 71st Street. The officer recognized the car, believing it to be connected to a July 21 armed robbery.

A video, captured by a witness at the gas station and later posted to social media, showed officers approaching Tyson's vehicle, demanding he leave the car. When Tyson refused to leave, one officer launched pepper-ball cartridges through the driver's side window, filling the car with smoke.

A passenger left the car and ran. She was captured a short while later. The woman, who has since been released from custody, told police she was Tyson's wife.

Tyson drove away in the car, leading officers on the chase. As Tyson traveled south on Georgetown Road, police said, he made a quick U-turn and started firing at the pursuing officers as they came parallel to him.

The officer who initiated the traffic stop took a bullet to the right ankle; another round grazed the back of his head. The officer riding with him was injured by debris but did not require medical help. Instead, she applied a tourniquet to the wounded leg of her partner, who also was her classmate at the police academy. The wounded officer was released from IU Health Methodist Hospital on Tuesday morning but will require surgery, police said.

Following the first shooting, Tyson made another U-turn and continued southbound on Georgetown before heading west on 56th Street and onto I-465. Indiana State Police troopers joined the chase, and Tyson began firing at them through the window of his car, police said. Officers tried disabling Tyson's car with spike strips, but he continued driving, even after a tire blew out.

The chase traversed five of the department's six service districts, finally ending in a hail of gunfire near the intersection of South Rural Street and Newton Avenue. It was the first time, Riddle said, that police had fired their weapons at Tyson during the chase.

As police officials updated media about the shooting on Tuesday afternoon, the Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police held a briefing of its own — one during which they asked for criminal code enhancements and updated safety and tactical equipment designed to protect police officers.

Local FOP President Rick Snyder said he’s calling on Indianapolis officials to provide emergency funding for body armor vests, Kevlar helmets and trauma kits, which would come out to about $2,000 for each IMPD officer. There are about 1,600 officers on the force, although some already have equipment.

“Our call is for our community and our police department to be prepared, not scared,” Snyder said. While he said Tuesday’s press conference was not prompted by Monday's shooting, he added that recent attacks on officers around the country have spurred the FOP to be more aggressive about asking for such measures quickly. “We are facing an imminent threat, really, from evil.”

Snyder also suggested giving officers additional less-lethal equipment, such as beanbag rounds.

Body armor vests and helmets are not standard equipment for all officers here. And Snyder acknowledged that such gear likely would not have stopped the Monday shooting from happening. However, Snyder said, any additional officers called to help during an ongoing attack need to be able to wear a helmet or vest if they have an opportunity.

The use of body armor, helmets and other heavy gear by police isn’t without controversy. Pictures of police using such equipment in other cities has fueled a national discussion about whether police in the United States are becoming too militarized.

For Central Indiana cops, grappling with new realities of attacks

Snyder, however, said the supplies he is asking for may be necessary for officers in some scenarios — for example, police providing backup for another officer who has been injured by a still-at-large shooter.

“It’s incumbent upon us to provide the absolute best safety for those officers,” Snyder said. “If folks are worried that this is too militaristic, what else is there beyond this?”

It’s unclear if the Indianapolis City-County Council would consider additional funding. City-County Councilor LeRoy Robinson, a Democrat who chairs the public safety committee, did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Snyder also said the FOP is calling on state officials to expedite revised criminal code enhancements for people who target and attack officers. While some criminal charges, such as battery, allow the state to upgrade the charge to a more serious one if an on-duty officer is attacked, those charges don’t include enhancements when an officer is attacked but is not on the clock.

And the state’s criminal recklessness charge, which was filed recently against a man accused of shooting an off-duty IMPD officer’s home and car, doesn't contain an enhancement for when an officer is the target in any circumstance.

State Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, said he will announce legislation addressing such issues next Tuesday. Merritt told IndyStar this month that he supports changes to state law aimed at protecting officers and their families because police are especially vulnerable to attacks. Many officers, he said, drive their marked cars home and can be easily identified as targets by those who wish to hurt them.

“We can’t have this targeting anymore,” Merritt said Tuesday.

While speaking with reporters Tuesday, Snyder also said the FOP recommends updated training for police that focuses on how to handle ambush attacks like the ones seen this month in Dallas and Baton Rouge, La. He said officers also should be trained to address large-scale terror attacks like the one in Nice, France on July 14, when a truck slammed into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day.

Monday's incident wasn't the first time Tyson had run-ins with the law.

In September 2014, while driving on I-70 through Missouri, Tyson was pulled over by a Missouri Highway Patrolmen for speeding. During a search of the vehicle, officers said they found heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, pills, and marijuana, as well as cash and a loaded .357-caliber Magnum revolver, according to court documents.

The arresting officers also noticed Tyson had prior convictions in Indiana for robbery and armed robbery in Marion and Hamilton counties from 2004 to 2007, and charged him with drug dealing, possession, and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Court documents show he was placed on probation following the Missouri charges. He violated probation in March, according to court documents.

The investigation into Monday's shooting is ongoing. The 16 officers who fired their weapons have been placed on administrative leave during the investigation.

Police have recovered at least one handgun they believe Tyson used in the shooting, but are also looking into the possibility that a rifle may have been used.

Call IndyStar reporter Michael Anthony Adams at (317) 444-6123. Follow him on Twitter: @michaeladams317.

Call IndyStar reporter Vic Ryckaert at (317) 444-2701. Follow him on Twitter:@vicryc.

Call IndyStar reporter Jill Disis at (317) 444-6137. Follow her on Twitter:@jdisis.