When Indianapolis police arrived, they shot the homeowner.
The gunman, a black man in his late teens, is still at large.
The homeowner, a black man in his late 40s, is listed in serious condition from the gunshot wound to his abdomen.
Police say the officer shot Carl Williams because he opened the garage door to his home while holding a gun after police had pulled up to his home.
And that, of course, made them fear for their lives.
Williams had called 911 at 4:34 a.m. to report that a black male in a red shirt armed with a rifle had just carjacked his wife at gunpoint.
Police have not said what color shirt Williams was wearing, so we can assume it was not red.
The suspect held Williams’ wife down on the ground at gunpoint, demanding the keys to her Nissan Sentra.
She gave him the car keys and he tried to steal her car, but then took off running after apparently not knowing how to start a push-button ignition.
Meanwhile, his wife had run inside the house and informed her husband, who figured the only logical thing to do is call police.
“Is that him?” Williams could be heard in the dispatch recording before the line went dead.
When police arrived, they didn’t even bother asking that question after he opened the door.
According to the Indianapolis Star:
That is when nine-year veteran Officer Christopher Mills shot Williams once in the abdomen, Taylor said. It’s unclear if more rounds were fired. A second officer on the scene, an eight-year veteran, did not fire his weapon.
In the 911 call, no vocal exchange could be heard between the homeowner and officer who fired his weapon. Riddle and Taylor said it was still unclear whether the officer gave any verbal commands to the homeowner.
Williams’ handgun was recovered from the home, but there was no indication that Williams raised his weapon, fired his weapon or brandished it in a threatening way.
Police were told that the suspect was driving a black Nissan Sentra, which was actually still sitting in the driveway with the door open and the interior lights on, when they pulled up.
Williams, who is still recovering at a local hospital and is expected to survive, has not spoken to the media or police.
But police are already saying he confused the cops for the suspect – even though he has not said this – in an obvious attempt to justify the shooting.
They also chalk up the shooting to the old “split-second decision” that cops must make do when confronting citizens.
Below is a recording of the dispatch communications.
