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A man is dead and an Indianapolis police officer is injured following a shooting on the city’s east side Thursday night.
The incident marks the third Indianapolis police action shooting since Oct. 19, the 10th since the beginning of August, and the 14th since the start of the year.
The Marion County Coroner's Office identified the man killed as 35-year-old Frederick Davis.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department identified the officer who fired his weapon as 5-year veteran Nicolas Deem.
According to IMPD, at about 6 p.m., officers were conducting an investigation on the 6900 block of East 21st Street when they recognized Davis, who had been trespassing at the Rodeway Inn. Police told him that he could not be there, and Davis fled from officers on foot. IMPD said officers did not pursue Davis.
Officers looked for Davis and were approached by an employee of a nearby Burger King, who said Davis was inside the restaurant. Officers then entered the restaurant and found Davis near the bathrooms.
Police said officers approached Davis and tried to take him into custody. A “physical altercation followed,” and officers and Davis fell to the ground, police said. According to police, Davis was able to disarm an officer and fired that weapon, striking the officer. The officer then used his secondary weapon to shoot Davis.
Davis then fled out the front of the restaurant and was apprehended by officers. He was taken to Eskenazi Hospital, where he died.
IMPD initially said the officer who was shot had a graze wound. On Oct. 30, police said the officer has "injuries more significant than originally thought." The officer has bullet fragments in his leg, some of which a doctor said may need to stay in his body permanently.
At a media briefing, IMPD Assistant Chief Chris Bailey addressed the frequency of the shootings.
“Everybody wants an answer as to why these are occurring in such close proximity,” Bailey said. “We don't have that answer other than our officers are responding a lot of times to the actions of other individuals.”
On Aug. 3, an IMPD officer shot and killed a man following a traffic stop.
On Aug. 27, an IMPD SWAT officer shot and killed a man reportedly experiencing a hallucinatory episode and wielding a machete.
On Sept. 1, officers shot a man during an alleged break-in.
On Sept. 19, an IMPD officer shot and killed a man following a domestic violence call.
On Sept. 22, IMPD SWAT officers shot and killed a man and injured a woman after a report of an armed robbery at a downtown business.
On Sept. 26, an IMPD officer and Indiana State Police officers who were members of a crime guns task force shot and killed a man who was a target of an investigation.
On Oct. 14, an off-duty IMPD officer shot and injured a man on the city’s eastside.
On Oct. 19, an IMPD officer shot a man during a warrant investigation.
On Oct. 24, an IMPD officer shot a man who climbed a tree and told officers to kill him after fleeing a traffic stop.
The number of police shootings to date in 2023 has now surpassed the number of such incidents in 2022 (10), 2021 (13), 2020 (7), 2019 (6), 2018 (4), and 2017 (8). IMPD reported 16 police shootings in 2016.
This story has been updated.
Contact WFYI criminal justice reporter Katrina Pross at kpross@wfyi.org.
Pross is a Corps Member of Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project.
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