Police are investigating an attempted murder that took place Saturday morning, according to Bloomington Police Department Capt. Ryan Pedigo.
Police said they have placed a 25-year-old man under arrest after he admitted to shooting a 20-year-old Black male from Bloomington. According to police, the shooting victim was taken to IU Health Bloomington Hospital by the 25-year-old man for one gunshot to the upper abdomen which created an entry and exit wound. Police said the man was given an emergency surgery at the hospital due to the seriousness of the wound, and then transferred to Methodist Hospital. There is no current update on the man’s condition.
The alleged shooter, who was still at the hospital, was taken to the police department’s headquarters for questioning, and police secured a vehicle (2007 BMW 335) that had carried the shooting victim to the hospital.
Police were able to find and interview two witnesses in the area of the 3200 block of S. Walnut Springs Drive, where the shooting had occurred. A woman said she was sitting in the passenger seat of her BMW car, and the victim was in the driver’s seat when he was shot by the 25-year-old. She got out of the vehicle, and the 25-year-old man told her it was an accident, and then drove the victim to the hospital.
The alleged shooter was later taken to the Monroe County Jail and is being charged with attempted murder, a level 1 felony.
Police obtained a search warrant to search the BMW, according to Pedigo, and evidence indicated the shooting victim was in the car’s driver’s seat. Investigators found a bullet fragment, and blood inside the vehicle.
Several witnesses told police they heard the gunshot, but they didn’t see it happen. Pedigo said that back in July, a man was murdered 100 yards away from the site of Saturday’s shooting, and the area is often the site of reports about shots being fired. The July murder is still unsolved. Pedigo also said, when police show up to investigate the numerous shootings, and reports of gunfire in the area, they often find people who give little to no cooperation with the police.
Police have not recovered a weapon in Saturday’s shooting, but are still investigating.
Update: Bloomington Police Department Capt. Ryan Pedigo sent the following information to journalists Tuesday afternoon, “On Saturday, 8/29, at approximately 4:15 am, officers responded to the IU Health Emergency Department for a report of a man that had been shot. Upon the arrival of officers, it was determined that a 20 year-old man had been shot and driven to the hospital in a 2007 BMW 335i that was parked outside the Emergency Department. Officers secured the vehicle and the man that had driven the victim to the hospital was transported to BPD for an interview. This man was identified as Matthew Jacob May (25, Bloomington). Investigators were eventually able to determine that the 20 year-old victim had been shot in the parking lot in the 3200 block of S Walnut Springs Drive by May while the victim was seated in the driver’s seat of the BMW. A 23 year-old woman was located by officers who claimed that she was in the passenger seat of the BMW when May approached the driver’s side of the vehicle and shot the victim. After shooting the victim, the woman claimed that May told her to get out of the car so he could drive the victim to the hospital. May then drove the victim to the hospital, where the victim was taken in for immediate emergency surgery. After the emergency surgery, the man was transported to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis due to the severity of his injuries. May provided investigators with statements that contradicted the physical evidence located inside the vehicle after officers petitioned the Court for a search warrant for the vehicle and were granted one. Officers located blood and a bullet fragment inside the BMW. Officers also located a 9mm shell casing in the parking lot near where witnesses claimed the BMW was parked when the victim was shot by May. May was transported to MCJ and remanded for the charge of Attempted Murder, level 1 felony, later on Saturday morning.”
