IMPD use Grappler to stop a pursuing vehicle of robbery suspects then led to a fatal police shooting
By: Video released Tuesday afternoon shows Indianapolis police deploying a grappler net to stop a car during a chase prior to the fatal shooting of a robbery suspect in September outside Lucas Oil Stadium.
Ricktez Williams, 27, died in the shooting.
Just after 9 p.m. Sept. 22, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department says a detective saw Williams, who was carrying a bag, exit a Dollar General store in the 2200 block of South Shelby Street. That’s just west of the intersection of I-65 and East Raymond Street on the near-south side of the city.
A clerk a short time later told the detective a man armed with a handgun had just robbed the store.
Officers in the area were sent a description of the silver Buick LaSabre car in which the robber fled. IMPD later learned Eriana Morris, 25, of Indianapolis, was driving the car.
At 9:15 p.m. Sept. 22, the department’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams and covert robbery detectives found the vehicle in the 600 block of South Missouri Street. That’s west of Lucas Oil Stadium.
A security camera that appears to be from Lucas Oil Stadium and an officer’s bodycam shows IMPD use the Grappler Police Bumper device to stop the car and prevent a pursuit.
The video narrator says, “The grappler is a netting system deployed from the front of a police vehicle to capture and lock the rear wheel of a suspect vehicle to prevent it from fleeing.”
As police chased the car, Williams fired multiple shots at officers from the passenger window of the car until it was stopped.
Three officers returned multiple shots: Sgt. Jeremy Steward, who’s been with IMPD for 27 years; Officer Kenneth Kunz, five years; and Officer Dalton Hair, five years.
The video shows Williams and Morris fled from the car, running toward the stadium, and Morris fell to the sidewalk near a bus stop outside the stadium after being shot. Morris hit behind a movable barrier placed along the sidewalk. Audio from bodycams indicate police almost immediately called for multiple medics.
Morris was last known to be in critical condition immediately after the shooting. Morris was charged Oct. 5 with armed robbery. Her bond was set at $1,000, and she paid it Monday, court documents show. Online records show she’s no longer listed as an inmate in the Marion County jail. Her next court hearing is set for Nov. 28.
Police previously said the suspect’s gun was recovered at the scene, and IMPD shared a photo of the weapon. It had been reported stolen in 2022.
No events were going on at Lucas Oil Stadium when the shooting happened, an IMPD spokesman said. The stadium the next day hosted the Circle City Classic college football game between Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils and the North Carolina Central University Eagles. Hours before the shooting, the stadium had hosted a pep rally featuring university bands and cheerleaders.
IMPD’s video release of the police shooting outside the stadium was its second Tuesday.