INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) — The wife of a man reportedly shot and killed in his home by officers from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is speaking out and looking for more answers.
The family of 65-year-old Daniel Cedars released a photo to Eyewitness News. Metro police say around 1:30 a.m. Monday, Cedars opened fire on officers approaching his south Indianapolis home.
Dispatchers had sent officers to the Monteo Drive residence to check out an incomplete 911 call. The call was made by their 10-year-old grandson as she slept, according to Gloria Cloud. The couple is raising their grandson and his 12 year old sister.
“I woke up to gunshots and come through the house. He was laying on the ground in the house and his gun was next to him. I thought a robber had come in or an intruder and then called 911 she said they are there," Cloud said. “My grandson had called I guess 911 and he hung up."
We observed where the bullets landed on the front door at the home..
Cedars and Cloud met four years ago and married two years ago. Cedars still worked some security details because of his love for police work. His wife finds it hard to believe he would shoot at anyone working in law enforcement.
“I can't tell you who shot first but I do know he was shot in the back. He had one bullet hole up here in the back," Cloud said.
Cloud told Eyewitness News that, as she was rendering first aid to her husband, she heard officers outside. She recalls hearing a voice on a loudspeaker ordering anyone inside the house to come out with hands up. After a brief conversation with a dispatcher, Cloud said she walked outside with her hands up, then officers cleared the home for any other dangers before paramedics entered their home to check on her husband.
Cloud said she knew her husband had passed away when the paramedics left without transporting him to the hospital.
Many of IMPD’s high-ranking officers responded to the scene. They kept the streets blocked off from through traffic and media as crime lab technicians placed evidence stickers where the ammunition landed during the shooting.
“There is a bullet hole at the side window. I don't know if that was his gun. I know the three from the front is from the cops, the three from the front door," said Cloud.
Gloria is convinced her husband had no reason to shoot at police officers especially being retired from law enforcement.
“That's his police car (parked in their driveway). It's not the blue lights but he still does funerals and security with his car. He just bought it."
IMPD veteran homicide Detective Robert Flack escorted a family or friend into the home Monday afternoon to retrieve some personal items. Cloud said she is not ready to go back inside where her husband lost his life.
IMPD is conducting regular safety patrols in the subdivision. Part of the investigation will include determining shots fired from the officers as well as from her deceased husband.
“I know he had a gun. He would not have shot at a cop. He is a police officer. He still says he is retired from the police department. Now, He might have been shooting at somebody else," Cloud said.
There is an independent investigation into the shooting as the two officers involved go on administrative leave.
“Oh my God. I wish I knew the answers,” said Cloud, “I don't know if I will ever know the answers.”
Some of those answers could come from their grandson, who Cloud says investigators will interview to try to learn about moments prior to their arrival. That includes the incomplete 911 call.
Cloud told Eyewitness News that once the investigation is complete, she hopes to learn every detail about why her husband ended up dead from police gunfire. The release by the IMPD Media Relations Office said that the preliminary information about the shooting may change as the investigation progresses.