Update: This article was republished May 29, 2024 with the identity of the man shot and killed and information about other suspects arrested in this case.
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis police officer assisting in an armed carjacking investigation Tuesday fatally shot one of the suspects in a neighborhood on the northeast side, according to law enforcement officials.
Just before 9 a.m., a woman reported she was approached by an armed person at a gas station in the 2800 block of North Post Road and was demanded to hand over her keys and a few of her belongings. The armed person took the keys and left in her car, along with another vehicle carrying several others.
Indianapolis officers put out descriptions of the suspect vehicle and the victim's vehicle to other law enforcement officials in the area.
An officer patrolling the Cavalier Court apartment complex, just over a mile north of where the carjacking was reported, saw the suspect and victim's vehicle in the neighborhood, according to Indianapolis Police Chief Chris Bailey.
The officer encountered one of the suspects and told him to get on the ground, police said. The suspect then ran, prompting a short foot pursuit. Bailey said body camera footage of the shooting that he reviewed captured the officer telling the suspect to "drop the gun."
As the officer approached the suspect's vehicle, Bailey said the suspect "dropped something," though it's unclear whether he dropped a gun or something else. The officer then fired his weapon.
After the first firing, the suspect ran away once more, according to Bailey. The officer ordered the suspect to stop and fired twice. At that point, the suspect collapsed.
The male, identified Wednesday as Jerrett Dwain Gray Jr., 20, by the Marion County Coroner's Office, was taken in critical condition to a hospital, where he died hours later. Police continue searching for the grey sedan carrying the suspect and at least one other person.
Two firearms were found where the suspect was taken into custody. One gun had an extended magazine, the other carried a machine gun conversion device, commonly called a Glock Switch.
"I’m heartbroken for everyone involved in this. This is not something we want to ever happen," Bailey said. At the same time, he noted, the investigation reflects the "perils of law enforcement and public safety."
"I feel like, in this day and age, with so many weapons out on the street, conversion devices, all those things, that just make the job of our officers more difficult and it makes it more difficult for the people that live in these communities."
Police have not said whether the suspect fired their weapon. No officers were injured.
The shooting will be investigated by the Critical Incident Response Team. A separate review will be done by the department's Internal Affairs unit. The civilian use of force review board also will examine the shooting to determine whether policies and procedures were followed.
The officer involved has been placed on administrative leave, per standard procedure.
On Wednesday morning police announced two 20-year-old men were arrested in connection with the armed carjacking.
2024 police-involved shootings in Indianapolis
This is the third shooting this month involving Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers.
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.
On May 15, officers responding to a person being shot by a roommate found a man with gunshot injuries to his abdomen, who was transported to a hospital in stable condition. Police learned the suspect in the shooting — later identified 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 the6500 block of Apollo Way, police said.An arriving officer 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 Baileysaid at the time.
This is the sixth time in 2024 that Indianapolis police been involved in a shooting.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; andLuis 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.
Tuesday's shooting comes six weeks afterMayor Joe Hogsett and Baileyannounced the Department of Justice would conduct an extensive review of shootings by police after a sharp spike in 2023 when officers were involved in 17shootings that killed or injured someone. A timeline for when the results of that review would be released hasn't been provided.
Past coverage:DOJ steps in to review shootings involving Indianapolis police at Chief Bailey's request
