Man dies in 'exchange of gunfire' with officer on Indy's northwest side

Update: Officer Joshua Frees, who has worked for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department for 9 years, was identified May 22, 2022, as the officer who shot Kelvin Andrew Chandler.

INDIANAPOLIS — A man is dead after being shot by Indianapolis police during an "exchange of gunfire" in a neighborhood on the northwest side of the city Wednesday afternoon. Officers were in the area responding to another shooting.

The scene unfolded in a cul-de-sac in the 6300 block of Watercrest Way near Eagle Creek.

Fatal Indianapolis police shooting

Officers were called to the area on a report of a person shot by his roommate. They found a man with gunshot injuries to his abdomen, who was awake and breathing when he was transported to a hospital, said IMPD Sgt. Anthony Patterson.

The man was listed in stable condition Wednesday afternoon.

Police learned the suspect in the shooting — later identified by the Marion County Coroner's Office as 26-year-old Kelvin Andrew Chandler — was likely in the area and officers set up a perimeter. They found Chandler, who was armed, running between houses in the 6500 block of Apollo Way, police said.

An officer arriving on scene got out of his vehicle, ran up to one of the houses and yelled "stop, stop, stop" at Chandler, before the officer and suspect exchanged gunfire, IMPD Chief Chris Bailey said.

Chandler was transported to a hospital, where he died. Investigators found a Sig Sauer handgun near where he was shot by the officer.

IMPD investigating police shooting

"My heart goes out to the family of this deceased," Bailey said. "I'm sorry we have a community member that's passed away here today. I'm also extremely thankful our officer was not injured or any civilians as a result of the reckless actions that I've observed in the body-worn camera video."

Investigators believe Chandler fired at the officer first, Bailey said.

Officers at the scene were equipped with body-worn cameras at the time of the shooting. The shooting will be investigated by IMPD's Critical Incident Response Team and internal affairs. The civilian's use of force review board will also review the shooting.

The officer who fired their weapon is on administrative leave as is standard procedure while the shooting is investigated, Bailey said.

2024 police-involved shootings in Indianapolis

This is the third shooting this month involving local police departments.

On May 1 a Beech Grove Police Department officer fatally shot a man armed with a knife while responding to a child custody dispute.

Then on May 2, Indianapolis police responding to reports of an armed person in the 3900 block of Broadway Street, near 38th Street and North College Avenue, shot and killed 35-year-old Lemar Brandon Qualls. A 911 caller said the man was on her porch and pointed a gun at her face, and another witness said the man pointed the firearm at officers, Bailey said at the time.

This is the fifth time in 2024 that Indianapolis police have shot someone. Raphael Dekemper, 41, was shot and killed in a Jan. 24 shootout with officers on Brookside Parkway North Drive; Dominique Lamonte Durham Sr., 37, was fatally shot March 24 in an exchange of gunfire with off-duty officers working security at a nightclub on East Washington Street; and Luis Duran-Ruano, 31, was killed after a SWAT standoff on Winston Avenue that started with a call about a man firing shots into the air near West 33rd Street and Georgetown Road on March 31.

Wednesday's shooting comes a month after Mayor Joe Hogsett and Bailey announced the Department of Justice would conduct an extensive review of shootings by police after a sharp spike in 2023 when officers were involved in 17 shootings that killed or injured someone. A timeline for when the results of that review would be released wasn't provided.

Past coverage:DOJ steps in to review shootings involving Indianapolis police at Chief Bailey's request

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis police shooting: Man dies after being shot by officer