IMPD releases video from police shooting that killed man who fled traffic stop
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis police on Friday released body camera video from the Oct. 24 police shooting that killed 35-year-old Darcel Edwards.
Around 4 that morning, an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer patrolling near East 25th Street and Park Avenue heard gunshots and saw a vehicle speed away.
The officer followed the vehicle and pulled it over on East 25th Street. Video from the officer’s body camera shows Edwards, getting out of a sedan with his hands up.
Edwards places his hands on the trunk and says something about someone hitting his car.
The officer asks Edwards who hit his car and tells him not to get back inside the vehicle. Edwards ignores the command, gets back behind the wheel, and heads east on 25th Street.
A few minutes later, the officer found Edwards’ car crashed on the northeast corner of East 25th Street and Columbia Avenue, just west of Dr. Andrew J. Brown Avenue.
The officer approached the vehicle but Edwards was not inside. Moments later, according to IMPD, Edwards “emerged from the driveway of a nearby home and ran into a backyard.”
Several other IMPD officers arrived at the scene and joined in the search. Less than five minutes later, Edwards was found hiding in a tree.
In the video from Officer No. 2’s body camera, that officer can be heard yelling, “Show me your hands! Show me your hands! Show me your hands and get down!”
Edwards, hidden by tree branches, yells back that he has epilepsy and can’t get down.
The body-worn camera of Patrol Officer Gunnar Gossett shows Gossett pointing his firearm at the tree and ordering him to come down. Again, Edwards refuses and tells officers to tase or shoot him.
IMPD says Edwards tried to reach for his pocket, but the motion is somewhat obscured by tree branches.
Officers yell at Edwards to stop reaching and Patrol Officer Gossett warns him, “If you do it again, you will be shot. Do you understand? I’m telling you right now, if you reach for something again, you will be shot.”
Edwards yells back, “Kill me!” to which an officer responds, “No!” Edwards orders the officers again to kill him, and an officer again tells him no.
The officers warn him again not to reach before Gossett fires two shots into the tree.
Once Edwards is on the ground, video from Gossett’s body camera shows the officers giving him first aid. He was transported to a local hospital in critical condition and died two days later.
IMPD says officers found a gun holster in Edwards’ waistband but a firearm was never located.
The Oct. 24 shooting was the 13th police shooting of 2023. Several others have occurred since then, including one on the day Edwards died.
The shooting is being investigated by the IMPD Critical Incident Response Team and the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office.
A separate and independent investigation by IMPD’s Internal Affairs Unit will ensure that department policy is followed, the department says.
The fatal shooting will be reviewed by the civilian-majority use of force review board. The review will take place after the criminal investigation is complete.
WARNING: The video below contains graphic content and may not be suitable for younger viewers.