Indianapolis - Police are looking for answers after one of their own was shot during a traffic stop Sunday morning.
IMPD Chief Paul Ciesielski joined us live on Sunrise Monday morning to answer questions about David Moore and the case.
Chief Paul Ciesielski on Officer Moore's condition:
" Well, he is still with us which is a good sign that he made it through the night. We remain optimistic, we have a lot of people praying for him and our police family and according to the doctors it is just a matter of time. We just have to wait and see if he can get through this first critical 24 hours or so and then see what they can do next to help him along the way."
On the outpouring of support by law enforcement:
"When this first happened, as I and other commanders were responding to the scene, we made the pact right away that we were not going to go home until we found this person. It only took us 8.5 hours to get somebody in jail and I think the response, you know, we had officers coming from home that weren't even working that knocked on our command door and said 'How can I help, where can I go, what can I do?' When we sent a page out to all the employees letting them know what the progress was, we had officers showing up at the hospital. We probably had over 150 people there at one point in the auditorium, just praying and being a part of it. It's just part of the police family because I think we all know it could happen to us anytime and when it happens to someone else, it brings that reality home and just brings us together"
On the search for Thomas Hardy:
"Right now he is only under arrest for a robbery that was committed and because of that I can't give a lot of details, but I can tell you that his name came up early in the investigation. There was a robbery later in the day, about 45 minutes after this occurred, that we know he committed by video and witnesses which again then reinforced who we were looking for. Then, honestly, it was the community's help that led us to the house on Indianapolis Avenue where he was eventually apprehended. So, without the communities help we wouldn't have gotten him that quickly."
On why Thomas Hardy has not been charged in the shooting:
"The charges for the robbery and being a habitual offender will keep him there (in jail) for some time, so we want to make sure that we do this investigation the best we can. We want to cross all our T's and dot all our Is to make sure we have a great probable cause. So if it's not today it will be soon this week."
On the strength of evidence against Hardy:
" Last night when we apprehended him and we ceased all our search operations, I am 100% confident we have the right man in jail right now." "We are not looking for anybody else."
On two man patrol cars:
"We're really still trying to figure out exactly how it happened. Based on some evidence at the scene, either he was ambushed or he was just totally caught off guard by this man and his response. Again, we could "what if." 'If there was an extra officer there, would it have been different?' Probably, because you can't shoot two people at one time. So, maybe that other officer could have helped, but the way we have things set up, the way that our officers are setup on the districts, normally back up is there within a minute. Many time when officers take action they'll have the back up with them before the incident even occurs. So right now I have no plans to even look at that, to change to two man cars. We like having as many cars out there as we can at one time. So right now, no, I don't think we're going to make a change."
On community support :
" If you look at some of the events over last year where we took some big hits as a police department. The morale went down, but I think all the officers know, in large part, the community does support us and our efforts. This is just another great example of how the community does show their appreciation. This is what we do, everyday. Yesterday was a slow Sunday, it was cold outside, the radio wasn't very busy, nothing going on, but David was out their doing his job and that's what 1,600 officers do every day. They are out there working hard, protecting this community and I hope the community realizes that."
