Carmel officer shoots man who rammed into police SUV

Carmel officer shot man who rammed police SUV

LATEST: Indiana State Police detectives have arrested Daniel Castillo, 23, of New Mexico, upon his release from the hospital. He was taken to the Hamilton County jail on preliminary charges of attempted aggravated battery; resisting law enforcement; and criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon.

CARMEL, Ind. (WISH) — A police shooting happened Sunday night on the third floor at Avant residential parking.

The person shot, who has not been identified, received injuries not believed to be life-threatening. The person was taken to a hospital.

The officer who fired a gun, who also has not been identified, was placed on administrative leave.

Avant resident Hunter Bagwell lives on the same floor and he described that night. “About 8 o’ clock, a car alarm went off for a good 5-10 minutes, and we couldn’t figure out why, and then, shortly after, we saw multiple police officers arrive.”

Bagwell says he didn’t hear the gunshots or the suspect’s vehicle ramming into a police car.

Indiana State Police said Carmel officers went to the garage on Old Meridian Street after getting a call about a stalker. They quickly found the suspect, who refused to get out of his car. He instead drove his Blue Dodge Charger car into a police SUV. That’s when one officer fired shots through the windshield of the man’s car.

No officers were inside the SUV.

Police says the man continued to spin his tires while hitting the police car. Officers later broke out a window of the charger to pull the man out.

Indiana State Police had not concluded its investigation by Monday night.

“No officer wants to discharge their firearm in the line of duty or get in that situation,” said Sgt. John Perrine of Indiana State Police.

Police says officers administered medical aid to the person shot.

No police officers were seriously injured.

The parking garage is for residents, but, Bagwell says, it was reported broken last week and allowed anyone to have access to the parking lot.

Despite the police shooting, he says, he still feels safe in the neighborhood and is happy that police responded quickly. “Early reports kept saying police shooting, and I think one of the things missed is this is not situation where police went out and shot someone. It was literarily an individual who rammed the car and put an officer at risk. There’s a lot of action to avoid this and deescalate that, and, unfortunately, put the officer’s life at risk and the officer’s response is appropriate.”