Teen involved in police-action shooting sentenced to jail

A New Whiteland teen who pointed a gun at a police officer last December and was shot multiple times by officers will spend about a year and a half in prison for his role in the incident.

Carter Kappel, 18, 719 Harvest Meadow Way, was charged with pointing a firearm and resisting law enforcement with a deadly weapon, both level 6 felonies. He was charged as an adult in April, when he was 17 years old, after a judge decided he should be treated as an adult for his actions in the shooting.

He has now pleaded guilty to both charges and Johnson Circuit Court Judge Andrew Roesener sentenced him to 545 days in jail. He received credit for about 193 days. The sentences will run concurrent, according to court documents.

New Whiteland police officers shot Kappel on Dec. 14 outside his home in the Country Gate subdivision after he pointed a gun at them. Kappel was rushed to an Indianapolis hospital where he underwent surgery and survived, eventually being transported to Johnson County’s juvenile detention center.

On the afternoon of Dec. 14, a relative called 911 to report that Kappel, who had previously run away from home, had returned to his house, and he had a gun, according to court documents.

In a written statement, that relative said when police arrived at the house, the relative saw Kappel exit his bedroom, pull the gun out and run outside.

One officer yelled for Kappel to stop and put the gun down. Kappel turned around and pointed the gun at the officer. The relative heard several shots, but did not see who fired them. Kappel tossed the gun and fell to the ground, the relative said.

In that officer’s written statement, he said as soon as he arrived at the house, before he even exited his patrol car, he saw Kappel run from the house. He said Kappel turned toward him and pointed the gun directly at him, court documents said.

The officer said he fired at Kappel until his magazine was empty, but Kappel was still standing, so the officer grabbed a rifle from his trunk.

Another officer gave a written statement that he was on the east side of the house when he heard gunshots. As he got to the front of the house, he saw Kappel standing on the sidewalk pointing a gun at the other officer.

Kappel then shifted his aim toward the officer standing near the house, according to the statement. The second officer fired his gun multiple times before taking cover behind a parked car in the garage and shooting at Kappel again, striking Kappel in his arm, the officer said.

Kappel fell to his knees, court documents said. He initially turned the gun toward himself before pointing at officers again, finally dropping the weapon. Someone stood on Kappel’s gun while neighbors rushed to render aid and apply a tourniquet until medics arrived, court documents said.

Kappel was the driver of a vehicle that police tried to stop earlier in the day in Whiteland due to a broke tail light and a non working license plate light. Police would later find methamphetamine, marijuana, a smoking device that contained meth residue and ammunition in the vehicle.

A second teen, Jordan Fulkerson, 19, was in the car with Kappel.

Both Kappel and Fulkerson had warrants out for their arrests when they led police on a brief car chase through town, reaching speeds of more than 60 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood southwest of U.S. 31 and Tracy Road. Once the car turned into a neighborhood, on Deville Place, police watched as Fulkerson jumped out of the car and took off running, but they did not notice Kappel had also escaped on foot, they said. Officers realized the car was unoccupied once it ran over a street sign and into a yard, according to court documents.

Officers, still in their patrol cars, saw a flash of light from a gun being fired, court documents said. They did not hear the shot due to their police sirens blaring, they said.

As the officer started to get out of his vehicle, Fulkerson turned around and held the pistol up but did not fire it, he said.

Fulkerson took off running, jumped a fence and disappeared, police said.

Police set up a perimeter, but even with K9s, drones and a helicopter, were unable to find the two, court documents said.

Police caught Fulkerson in the neighborhood after Kappel was shot. Fulkerson’s trial is set for August.