ELWOOD, Ind. — Indiana State Police have confirmed an officer with the Elwood Police Department was part of a shooting involving a domestic battery suspect Friday evening in Madison County.
According to ISP Sgt. Scott Keegan, Elwood PD was dispatched around 3 p.m. Friday to S. J Street in Elwood for a domestic battery.
Upon arrival, ISP said officers found the domestic battery suspect, identified as 26-year-old Dakota McCreary of Noblesville. Once McCreary saw officers, ISP said he ran into a nearby wooded area.
Officers with Elwood PD and other agencies began a manhunt for McCreary and drones were deployed over the woods searching for him. Over 3 hours later, around 6:30 p.m., ISP said officers received a tip from an uninvolved citizen that they’d seen McCreary in a part of the woods.
Elwood officers, ISP said, approached McCreary and gave him verbal commands to drop a firearm. The gun that McCreary pointed at the officers was later found.
“We don’t believe he fired,” ISP Sgt. Keegan said.
After the commands were given, ISP said Elwood PD Patrolman Keegan Russell shot his department-issued rifle “at least twice,” striking McCreary “at least once.”
Ofc. Russell, who ISP said is a one-year veteran of Elwood PD, was training another officer at the time. Both of those EPD officers, ISP said, were unharmed during the shooting.
McCreary, Sgt. Keegan said, was initially taken to a local hospital for his gunshot injury. He was then later flown by helicopter to Ascension St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis. Sgt. Keegan was unable to provide a condition for McCreary.
Sgt. Keegan said that state police crime scene lab technicians are currently on the scene assessing the shooting area and gathering evidence.
Information will be added to this story as it becomes available.