MUNCIE – A shootout that began when two Muncie police officers pulled into a convenience store parking lot near the Ball State University campus ended less than a minute later with the gunman dead, state police said Friday.
Authorities hadnt identified the dead man Friday evening nor provided any information about why he started firing on the officers.
Officer Steve Baugh was hospitalized in stable condition, state police Sgt. John Bowling said.
Officer Brent Brown, who was driving an unmarked Suburban, was hit in the shoulder, but the bullet was stopped by his vest. He was treated at Ball Memorial Hospital and released.
The shootout occurred about 2 p.m. Friday. The Star Press reported that the man was believed to be involved in a recent store robbery. Bowling said the man was sitting in his car backed into a parking spot and began shooting through his windshield into the windshield of the unmarked police car when it and a marked police car pulled into the lot.
Ball State freshman Skylar McLaughlin witnessed the shootout from his apartment and said it lasted about 30 seconds.
Delaware County Coroner Scott Hahn said the gunman died of multiple gunshot wounds.