‘Tried to kill a cop tonight’: Details emerge in shooting incident

The circumstances leading up to shots being fired at a Bargersville police officer were laid out in charging documents filed Thursday in a Johnson County court.

Details emerged, including multiple threats to police by the man who has since been charged with attempted murder and a slew of other felonies.

Andrew Phillip McQuinn drank alcohol the entire day leading up to the incident, injured a woman in the presence of her toddler, stole her gun and warned her he would be shooting at the police, according to the court documents filed in Johnson County Superior Court 2.

Prosecutors charged McQuinn, 27, with attempted murder, a Level 1 felony, possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, a Level 4 felony, domestic battery committed in the presence of a child less than 16 and theft of a firearm, both Level 6 felonies, and possession of a handgun without a license, a misdemeanor.

A Level 1 felony is the highest felony someone can be charged with, besides murder. McQuinn faces up to 57 years in prison if convicted on all charges and ordered to serve each sentence separately.

Court documents, which include details of police interviews with several witnesses, paint a picture of the day leading up to the incident last Sunday, and what happened after.

Bargersville police responded to a domestic disturbance around 8 p.m. Sunday at Clary Crossing Apartments on the northside of town.

When the responding officer arrived at the apartment building, McQuinn was standing outside. He pointed a gun at the officer and fired six shots, according to court documents. The officer had to put his car in reverse to avoid being shot, court documents said.

Once the officer was out of the line of fire, he exited his patrol car, pulled out a gun and looked for McQuinn. Two witnesses told the officer McQuinn had dropped his gun and was laying on the sidewalk, according to court documents.

McQuinn was held at gun point until additional officers arrived. He was arrested and taken to the Johnson County jail. Investigators found the 9 MM handgun McQuinn used to shoot at police in bushes next to the apartment building. Investigators also found six shell casings, court documents said.

A woman told police she had been dating McQuinn for a few weeks and that they, along with some friends, went out drinking the night before. McQuinn woke up that day to bad news and began drinking alcohol again. He continued drinking most of the day.

The woman told police she and McQuinn argued most of the day, and he had slapped her. The woman left the apartment for awhile, but McQuinn was still there when she returned. They continued arguing, so the woman took her 3-year-old child into another room to get away from McQuinn, but he kept coming into the room and yelling, according to court documents.

At one point, McQuinn pinned her to a countertop, grabbed her neck and threw her to the ground, causing her to hit her head on a table, court documents said.

She went to retrieve her handgun, but the gun was gone, according to court documents. McQuinn denied taking it, she told police. It was later determined he had, court documents said.

The woman called a family member who called police. When McQuinn found out police had been called, he said, “I’m gonna shoot at the cops, guess there’s gonna be a shootout,” court documents said.

Jail staff told investigators McQuinn told them he shot at a cop because “that’s what I do,” and he was bragging to people at Johnson Memorial Health, where he was checked out following the incident, saying “(I) tried to kill a cop tonight because that’s what we do.” In describing the gun, he referred to it as “the gun I tried to waste you fools with,”  court documents said.

McQuinn also said he had just committed a robbery in another county, and the chains he was placed in still gave him room to kill officers, according to court documents.

He is held at the Johnson County jail on $100,000 cash-only bond. His initial hearing is set for Thursday.