IMPD makes arrest in Tuesday shooting that killed 16-year-old boy
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis police have made an arrest in a Tuesday shooting that killed a 16-year-old boy on the city’s west side.
18-year-old Jakari Bibbs was arrested Thursday for reckless homicide and pointing a firearm in the death of Nathaniel Labissiere, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in a release.
Bibbs is accused of shooting Labissiere, a student at Ben Davis High School, at a home in the 4400 block of Braemar Drive. That’s in a residential area near West 46th Street, just outside the I-465 loop.
On Thursday, IMPD officers tracked him to West 71st Street, just west of Georgetown Road, and took him into custody.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by News 8, IMPD officers entered the home on Braemar Drive after the shooting and found two girls who lived there and Bibbs.
Det. Anthony Johnson identified Bibbs in court papers as the boyfriend of one of the girls.
All three people were taken to the police station for questioning.
One of the girls told Det. Johnson that her boyfriend (Bibbs) and his two friends, “Nate” and “DW” were visiting and that she used her phone to take photos of the males with the gun inside the house and, last, in her bedroom. The gun was described in court papers as a black pistol.
The girl said she “turned to fold a blanket or article of clothing as [Bibbs] handed the gun to either Nate or DW and then she heard a gunshot,” the probable cause affidavit reads.
“After the sound of the gunshot, one of the males who she knows as ‘Nate’ fell from the corner of her bed to the floor and was bleeding heavily. She did not see who shot the black pistol. She stated DW left the house after the shooting,” Johnson wrote.
Detectives interviewed Bibbs, who said he knew Labissier’s real name, but not DW’s. Court papers say Bibbs told Det. Johnson that the gun belonged to DW.
“They removed the magazine from the gun and turned the magazine around and re-inserted it. This made the gun look like it had an extended magazine,” Bibbs told Det. Johnson.
Bibbs “noted the bullets in the magazine looked small” and said he asked DW if there was a round in the chamber, Johnson wrote.
Bibbs told Johnson they were in his girlfriend’s room, taking photos when he “passed the gun to one of the guys” and as he was looking down, he “heard a gunshot and saw ‘Nate’ was shot,” the detective said.
During the investigation, detectives learned DW had been reported as a missing person on June 26, 2021. DW, who was not identified in court documents, was located by investigators and taken in for questioning.
“DW stated he, Nate and Jakari were given a ride by (the girl’s grandfather) to her house. He stated he brought his gun, a Glock 44 .22cal,” Johnson wrote. “Before being picked up from Nate’s apartment, Bibbs got the pistol…and carried it in his waist to his girlfriend’s residence.”
After playing with the gun in the garage, the group went into the girl’s bedroom.
DW told detectives that at one point, Bibbs pointed the gun at him and he told him to stop. Bibbs then did the same to Labissiere, court papers say.
According to court papers, DW said Labissiere “reached out and grabbed the barrel of the pistol, also telling Bibbs not to point the gun at him. As this occurred, the gun fired. The victim grabbed his throat like he couldn’t breathe. He fell to the floor and did not get up.”
Court papers say DW took the gun from the floor next to the victim and left. He went home, “where he told his mother of what occurred, and she placed his gun into her purse,” Det. Johnson wrote.
Bibbs was picked up by investigators on Thursday and agreed to another interview at the homicide office.
Court papers say Bibbs then admitted to pointing the gun at Labissiere and pulling the trigger.
“He was surprised the gun fired because he thought he had unloaded it,” Det. Johnson wrote. “He stated the victim grabbed the area where he was shot and fell to the floor.”
Bibbs told detectives he tried to put pressure on Labissiere’s wound using a towel as instructed by the 911 dispatcher, but it did not work.
Bibbs was being held Friday in the Marion County Jail.
A court date has not been announced.
