The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office on Monday was still investigating an officer-involved shooting that rocked a New Whiteland neighborhood last week.
Sheriff’s deputies are stationed at an Indianapolis hospital, where the 17-year-old boy who officers shot several times is recovering, Johnson County Sheriff Doug Cox said. He was rushed to the hospital on Friday where he underwent surgery.
The shooting on Friday afternoon was the second time that day shots were fired in area neighborhoods. Less than 12 hours earlier, and less than a mile away, two officers from New Whiteland and Whiteland police, were shot at during a pursuit.
Police tried to stop a car for speeding when the driver took off, leading them on a 15-minute chase through town before they jumped out of the car with it still in gear, fired two shots at officers and escaped on foot, police said.
The two got away, and area police were looking for both suspects on Friday when a grandmother called police to report that her 17-year-old grandson who had previously run away had returned home with a gun.
When officers arrived, she went outside the home at 719 Harvest Meadow Way in the Country Gate subdivision to warn them again. The teen followed her outside, and pointed a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol at two New Whiteland police officers.
The officers fired their guns, and the teen was struck several times. A couple hours later, a second suspect was arrested near the home.
The sheriff’s office is investigating the shooting by the police officers; New Whiteland police is investigating the pursuit that ended with officers being shot at. The two are believed to be related.
Typically, when police officers are involved in a shooting, they are placed on restricted duty until the investigation is complete, Cox said. He is not sure if that’s the case in this situation. That’s up to New Whiteland police chief Joe Rynerson, he said. Rynerson did not return phone calls on Monday.
As the investigation continues, Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper will decide what, if any, charges to file against the teen, and whether those charges are filed in juvenile or adult court.
The teen is suspected of being with another area man, Jordan Fulkerson, 19, of Greenwood, during the pursuit early Friday morning.
Fulkerson was arrested on Friday after police caught him running in a field behind the house where the 17-year-old was shot. He is still being held at the Johnson County jail without bond due to an outstanding warrant for invasion of privacy, Cox said on Monday.
No other charges had been filed against Fulkerson Monday afternoon.
At the time of the shooting, the teen was wanted on a juvenile pick-up order, which is similar to an adult arrest warrant. And Fulkerson had been released from jail on bond after being arrested in November on charges of dealing in methamphetamine, conspiracy to deal methamphetamine and dealing in marijuana.
The warrants are likely the reason the two ran from police in the overnight pursuit, Cox said.
After the shooting, police got a warrant to search the home. Investigators were looking for DNA samples, documents, phones and phone records, computers and computer files, such as text messages, phone numbers called and social media, firearms and ammunition, according to the warrant.
Fulkerson did not have a weapon when police captured and arrested him on Friday afternoon, Cox said.
Both Fulkerson and the teen have attorneys, he said.
