INDIANAPOLIS — A man is dead after Indiana State Police and IMPD said he got out of a car and shot at investigators, so they returned fire.
It happened right after members of the Indiana Crime Guns Task Force stopped the car the man was riding in around 4:40 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26 at East 40th Street and North Keystone Avenue.
Indiana State Police said the information they have is preliminary and the investigation into what happened could take months.
What they do know is the man who was shot and killed, identified late Tuesday as 42-year-old Darmon Graves Jr., of Indianapolis, was being investigated by the Indiana Crime Guns Task Force and was wanted for an outstanding felony warrant for a parole violation connected to a serious violent felony.
"These are not random targets. These are not random people. These aren't misdemeanor charges. These are felonies and violent felonies," IMPD Assistant Chief Christopher Bailey said. "Our officers are tasked, specifically the Indiana Crime Guns Task Force, is tasked with going after the most violent people in the city of Indianapolis."
Court records show police arrested Graves in May for allegedly carjacking a delivery truck driver at gun point and later running from police when they tried to pull him over.
Six days after police arrested Graves in that alleged incident, he was out on bond. Two weeks later, court records show a warrant was issued for his arrest when he didn't show up for a hearing.
According to court records, Graves got out of prison in 2021, serving time after being convicted for shooting a man during a robbery.
Fast forward to Sept. 26, 2023 when, according to state police, officers conducted a high-risk traffic stop on Graves, positioning themselves behind patrol cars as they attempted to communicate with the people inside the vehicle.
Police said the driver of the car, a woman, got out first with no incident, raised her hands and walked away from the car, while Graves remained inside the car.
"As officers moved in to apprehend the suspect, he exited the vehicle with a handgun in his hand," said Indiana State Police Sgt. John Perrine, adding that early information indicated the suspect shot first.
According to investigators, that's when two IMPD officers and an Indiana State Police trooper fired back, killing the suspect.
Police said no one else was hurt in the incident.
"No officer leaves their house ever wanting to take another human life," Bailey said.
The female driver of the car was detained but was later released after an interview with investigators.
But because that's what happened, another investigation has begun.
According to police, those involved will be interviewed and evidence will be analyzed, including video from police body cameras, a drone and cameras in troopers' cars.
"The video will tell the story," Bailey said.
On Oct. 3, Indiana State Police released more information about the investigation into the shooting, including the names of the trooper and officers involved.
Trooper Christopher Stout, a 6-year veteran of ISP who is assigned to the Indiana Crime Guns Task Force in Indianapolis, along with IMPD officers Jai'dion Broader, a 9-year veteran and 6-year veteran Matthew Harris were the officers involved in the shooting, ISP said in a release.
The trooper and officers who shot and killed the man are all on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure.
State police say detectives were looking to question Graves as part of an arson investigation on Crousore Road in Indianapolis. Investigators learned Graves had allegedly pointed a gun at a female victim and threatened to have a shootout with police if confronted by officers.
Detectives say they knew Graves was considered a serious violent felon and couldn't legally possess a firearm. He also had an active felony warrant at the time of the investigation in late September. Due to the threats he allegedly made toward police, the Indiana Crime Guns Task Force was investigating the case, state police said.
The owner of a nearby day care told 13News, their cameras captured what happened and they will give that video to police.
According to an IMPD spokesperson, Tuesday's shooting is one of five incidents in the past seven and a half weeks where IMPD officers have fired shots where a suspect was killed.
IMPD says in the past nine months, officers have shot and killed 6 people, leaving 9 officers on administrative leave with pay while those cases are investigated. That means the officers are not working.
"The situations are going to dictate how we read these statistics," said former federal prosecutor and FBI agent M. Quentin Williams.
Williams said it's too early to say if the past seven weeks are part of a larger pattern involving police using deadly force.
"We have to look at how the person, the civilian with a weapon is behaving," said Williams. "We take each one for what it is with its distinct and unique fact pattern and we assess from that point on."