Man driving around, shooting at people in Muncie taken into custody after pursuit, crash
MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) — Police say a man was driving around and shooting at people Wednesday afternoon, setting off a vehicle chase involving multiple police agencies on roads in Delaware County and in Muncie.
Sgt. Coley McCutcheon, the public information officer for the Pendleton district of the state police, said in a tweet that the chase has ended and a suspect is in custody. State police will lead the investigation, which includes multiple crime scenes throughout Delaware County. Social media indicates some of the gunfire happened in and around Selma, a town of 800 people that’s east of Muncie.
The suspect, a man who has not been named, was hospitalized at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, but his condition was not immediately known. It was also unknown how he was injured, but the chase ended when he crashed into another car in front of a home in the 500 block of West Centennial Avenue, which is north of the Delaware County Fairgrounds, authorities said.
No police were injured in the chase although the man fired shots at police officers and other people, authorities said. It was not immediately known if police used weapons during the chase. Police were uncertain if any officers fired shots or if the man shot himself.
Police said the call originally came in as a suicide.
No one else was injured. A woman who was a passenger in the man’s vehicle got away safely, police said. Police said the woman was not a hostage.
Mandy Arnold was picking her son up from his bus stop when she found out it wouldn’t be on time because of the chase.
“You hear somebody was driving around town firing a weapon, it makes you scared for everybody. I think about how lucky we are that nobody else was injured in this situation, that no kids were involved,” said Arnold.
Muncie Police Department also issued a statement, which said the pursuit began around 1:40 p.m. The statement also said schools were put on lockdown as a result of the incident.
State police asked witnesses who may have video of the event, or anyone with damage to a home or vehicle, to call the State Police Pendleton district at (765) 778-2121 or 1-800-527-4752.
Muncie authorities and state police had a news conference shortly before 6 p.m. The news conference was streamed on the WISH-TV Facebook page.
Statement
“At approximately 1:40 PM County and City Police Officers were involved in a pursuit with a male suspect that was armed. During the pursuit it was reported that the male suspect fired shots at both civilians and officers. Police Officials contacted the Communications Center to start notifying all county and city schools to lock down for safety of students and faculty while this pursuit was mobile. The pursuit terminated in the city and the male suspect was taken into custody and transported to Ball Memorial Hospital. There is no longer a threat to the public safety and school officials have been notified. The investigation is on-going and more information will be available when possible. The Indiana State Police have been contacted and will be conducting the investigation.”
Deputy Chief Christopher Deegan, Muncie Police Department
