Bodycam footage shows moments leading up to Elwood police shooting in a domestic battery call
By: Body-worn camera footage released Tuesday by the Elwood Police Department shows the moments leading up to when an officer fired his rifle at a domestic battery suspect last week.
The shooting occurred around 6:30 p.m. on Friday, June 9, after Elwood officers tracked a domestic battery suspect, identified as 26-year-old Dakota McCreary of Noblesville, to a parking lot near a wooded area where he had been hiding from officers.
According to new court filings, McCreary had entered his ex-girlfriend’s apartment and stole her dog. Police say he then returned and waited for her to come home.
When she got there, McCreary told the victim her dog was safe, and he’d give him back if she spoke to him. She refused, and McCreary beat her several times before running off into that wooded area, according to court filings.
In the bodycam footage released Tuesday, officers can be heard discussing how McCreary is hiding behind a building and yelling at him to come out. Once McCreary comes into the officers’ sight, they run back to their police vehicle and say the suspect has something in his hand.
Both responding Elwood PD officers then grab department-issued rifles. Patrolman Keegan Russell can be heard telling another officer he is training to get behind the car.
“Drop it,” Ofc. Russell can be heard yelling at McCreary. “Do it now.”
While the bodycam footage released obscures the view of McCreary, Indiana State Police said that the suspect did not comply with the officer’s commands.
“What do you have? Put it down,” the officer can be heard saying.
Russell then tells McCreary to put whatever is in his hand down at least four more times.
“No! Fk you,” McCreary can be heard yelling at the officers. “Fk you.”
Several seconds later, Ofc. Russell can be seen firing his rifle twice toward McCreary. ISP Sgt. Scott Keegan said the suspect was struck at least once. Ofc. Russell’s bodycam footage from the incident, provided by Elwood PD, can be viewed below.
Both Elwood officers can be heard again telling McCreary to “put it down” after the shots are fired. Ofc. Russell also radios that shots have been fired, and a suspect is down.
“I can’t see his right side,” one officer can be heard saying. “He has something in his hand.”
Officers can then be heard requesting a drone over the radio as they move closer to McCreary. Bodycam footage then shows McCreary injured on the ground and an object that appears to be a handgun on the ground next to him.
Bodycam footage then shows Russell and multiple other officers approach McCreary, handcuff him, and request medics for a gunshot victim. The video then ends.
McCreary, ISP said, was initially taken to a local hospital for his gunshot injury. He was then later flown by helicopter to Ascension St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis. His condition is currently unknown.
The following day, ISP released photos of the shooting scene. In one photo, a brass-ed handgun can be seen on the pavement near where McCreary was shot. However, police later learned it was simply a lighter that looked like a gun.
The victim in the domestic violence incident told FOX 59 her dog, named Hemi, is still missing. She said Hemi is an emotional support and is hoping someone will find him and reunite them.