Update: Halloween shooting on S. Muller Parkway

Members of the Bloomington Police Department investigate after a shooting in the 500 block of S. Muller Drive, November 1, 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Jeremy Hogan/The Bloomingtonian)

Bloomington, Indiana, November 1, 2019 – By Jeremy Hogan

A 28-year-old Bloomington resident was shot in the head early Friday morning outside a party in the 500 block of South Muller Parkway on the west side of Bloomington.

At approximately 12:28 a.m., police responded to a call that shots had been fired at a vehicle. Shortly afterward, scanner traffic indicated that a gunshot victim had arrived at IU Health in Bloomington. The shots could be heard across Bloomington, and The Bloomingtonian heard them from over a mile away. There was a short burst of gunfire followed by a longer burst.

Police soon arrived at the scene of the shooting, closed an area, found bullet casings, and waited for the evidence to be collected by a member of the police department. Police were at the scene until at least 3 a.m. Kovach said officers were unsure of the number of shots fired. But, he added, it was clear that this was a targeted incident, and there was no further threat to the general public. Doctors at the Bloomington hospital decided not to remove a bullet which hit the victim on the left side of the head. The victim, who was conscious, was treated and released from the hospital after being driven there by a friend, according to police Lt. John Kovach during a Friday morning press briefing. Police found a car with bullet holes in the parking lot of the hospital, and processed the evidence.

A blue Chevy Malibu, also parked at the scene, was hit by at least one round. Police at the scene photographed the car and gathered evidence. According to Kovach, witnesses at the scene of the shooting heard a commotion, and when they turned around, two men were fighting. One man, wearing what was described as a red sweater, produced a gun and began pointing it at the other individual, according to Kovach.

The gunshot victim said he wasn’t involved in the fight, and said he was in a car driving away with a friend, because they heard gunshots, when bullets entered the car, and he was struck in the head, according to Kovach. The victim said the friend drove him to the hospital. The friend gave the same account to the police.

At the scene of the shooting, police blocked off a large area with yellow tape, and various people, some college-aged pedestrians still in Halloween costumes, were headed to cars, or walking out of the area, as The Bloomingtonian arrived. A few residents were given police escorts to their apartments, while some already in their apartments looked down from balconies. The temperature had dropped below freezing, and car windows were covered in frozen snow and ice. Some onlookers didn’t seem to know the shooting had occurred, and were asking bystanders what happened, while others could be heard talking about a fight. Multiple police walked up and down the parking lot with flashlights, and marked the locations of casings. By 2:30 a.m., most of the police left, while a couple stayed behind to secure the scene until the evidence could be processed.

The investigation is still active, and there have been no arrests.

Halloween shooting on S. Muller Parkway

Members of the Bloomington Police Department investigate after a shooting in the 500 block of N. Muller Drive, November 1, 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana. About half a dozen gunshots could be heard shortly before 12:28 a.m. The shots echoed across Bloomington. Scanner traffic indicated there was one gunshot victim who arrived at IU Health Bloomington a few minutes later. This story will be updated. (Photo by Jeremy Hogan/The Bloomingtonian)