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IMPD video release shows moments leading up to officers shooting and killing suspect in January

The family of Raphael Dekemper said they wish police could have found another way to arrest their loved one.

INDIANAPOLIS — IMPD released bodycam video showing the moments leading up to the deadly shooting of a suspect on Jan. 25, 2024.

According to police, they were trying to arrest Raphael Dekemper on a warrant for possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. Dekemper, 48, was accused of firing shots at someone in early January on the east side on North Bolton Avenue.

Police found Dekemper as he got into the passenger seat of a car in the 2500 block of East 16th Street. Officers stopped the car in the 2600 block of Brookside Parkway North Drive, near Rural STreet.

IMPD claims that after the car stopped, Dekemper got out and fired shots at the officers. Three officers fired their guns, hitting Dekemper.

WARNING: The IMPD video contains graphic images and language and can be found here.

Credit: IMPD
Ring footage moments before an officer-involved shooting near Rural Street and Brookside Parkway North Drive on Jan. 25, 2024.

The woman driving the car was taken into custody and was not injured, according to police.

Officers then approached Dekemper, secured a gun near his body, and then gave him first aid.

Credit: IMPD
IMPD said detectives found this gun next to Raphael Dekemper, who they say shot at police Jan. 25, 2024.

Dekemper spent more than 20 years in Indiana prisons for a murder committed in 1995 when he was just 17 years old. He got out on parole in 2017. His cousin, Tierra Johnson, said Dekemper told her he knew there was a warrant for his arrest but he was not going back to prison.

"I understand that they said that he shot first,” Johnson said at the time. “But it was other ways around it. If you know he was armed, they could have went another direction. I just wish it could have ended better, and we're just going to miss him."

In addition to the photo of the gun police said Dekemper had, they also released a photo of a bullet hole in a squad car.

"Our officers are doing exactly what we want them to do. They're being focused in their approach, and going after that small number of people that are responsible for the violence in our community,” IMPD Chief Chris Bailey said at the time. “I think that's what our community wants us to do."

Credit: IMPD
IMPD shared photos of damage to one of its cars after an officer-involved shooting Jan. 25, 2024, near Rural Street and Brookside Parkway North Drive.

The officers involved were identified as nine-year veteran Officers Michael Sojka, Nickolas Smith, and eight-year veteran Officer Andrew Hibschman.

In January, IMPD told 13News the department is waiting for a final proposal on an outside agency to review the increase in officer-involved shootings and will then work on a selection process for who will do the review.

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