Police: Suspect goaded police into shooting him
BEECH GROVE, Ind. (WISH) — A man is dead after a police action shooting in Beech Grove.
Police confirmed that James Johnson, 54, Beech Grove, was shot by police on Monday. The shooting occurred on South 4th Avenue before 3:00.
Major Tom Hurrle with BGPD said that officers were called to the scene for a possible suicidal person.
Officers arrived and found a man on a porch waving a gun and saying to officers “shoot me.”
Hurrle said five or six officers were on the scene as the man continued to goad police into shooting him while waving the gun and walking toward them in the street.
Hurrle said officers tried to get the man to drop the weapon. Officers shot him after he raised the gun in their direction.
Beech Grove Police said they never want a situation to reach that point, but for the safety of their officers and the people in the neighborhood, they feel it was their only option.
“Tragedy, it’s definitely a tragedy,” said Jazmine Johnson (no relation) who lives a few doors down. She witnessed the incident unfold as she pulled up to her home. “It’s devastating to know that it’s somebody close, somebody I knew.”
As investigators analyzed the scene, crowds formed up and down the block. And it’s those exact people police said they were trying protect when they shot the armed man.
“We can’t gamble away their safety thinking well maybe he’s just emotionally disturbed and if we let him walk and talk this out eventually he’ll just stop,” said Major Hurrle. “We don’t have the option to see and hope that that’s going to be the case.”
Major Hurrle called the incident “suicide by police,” meaning Johson provoked the officers into killing him. It’s not the way officers wanted to the situation to end, but felt it was necessary in order to keep people safe.
“Down at the other end of the street a little bit ago there was probably 10-15 little kids watching this from outside the police tape and who knows where they were before that. Maybe just right around the corner,” he said.
Neighbors said Johnson had a history of mental illness. Sunday night, the Beech Grove Fire Department said it got a call about a man unconscious on a front porch at Johnson’s address. They said the man was breathing but was taken to Eskenazi Health. Fire fighters could not confirm if the man who was hospitalized was Johnson.
Beech Grove Police said they’ve been called to Johnson’s home four times in the past eight months but could tell us the reasons why.