Police ID 1 of 2 killed in Beech Grove robbery attempt

Update: Police identified the man shot and killed during the robbery as Seth A. Easley. The name of the 14-year-old boy killed during the robbery has not been released.

Original story:

Two robbery suspects, including a 14-year-old boy, were shot and killed by a security guard outside a Beech Grove bar, Mayor Dennis Buckley said Saturday.

The shooting happened at 1 a.m. in front of the The Grove Bar and Eatery, 3206 S. Emerson Ave.

Buckley said two males, the 14-year-old and a 29-year-old, approached a car parked in front of the corner bar on Alton Street and demanded money of the two occupants, who were a mother-and-son security team employed by the bar.

The 14-year-old pointed a handgun at the guard on the driver's side and demanded "give us everything you've got," Buckley said. The guard, who was the son, replied, "We don't have anything except a cellphone," to which the teenager replied, "Give us that," Buckley said.

Instead, the guard fired several shots at the suspects, striking both.

One suspect collapsed next to the car; the other staggered 20 feet to the parking lot north of the entrance lot before falling, Buckley said.

The identities of the victims and the guards were not being released immediately. Buckley said the guards were interviewed by homicides detectives and charges were unlikely because it appeared to be a shooting in self-defense.

Det. Robert Mecuri said there was one security camera outside the bar that captures only the entrance and the suspects don't appear on the video. But he said police want to talk to two people who left the bar minutes before the shooting to ask them if they saw the suspects.

"We're pretty sure the suspects were never in the bar, they weren't customers," Mercuri said.

Before the suspects approached the car, the guards were about to call police because they appeared to be "casing the area," for a robbery victim, Buckley said.

"They picked the wrong car," Buckley said.

Mecuri said police do not know the relationship between the suspects.

Homicides are rare in Beech Grove and Buckley said he was disturbed by these because of the age of the younger suspect.

"It is very disheartening what is going on in society," he said. "We can do better. He is 14 years old. He should be home at 1 a.m."

They were the first homicides in Beech Grove since a homicide/suicide in 2015, Buckley said.

IndyStar Reporter Cara Anthony contributed to this report.

Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-6418 and follow on Twitter @john_tuohy.