INDIANAPOLIS — EDITOR'S NOTE: The video of the incident in the link below shows graphic content of a deadly shooting of a suspect by IMPD officers.
IMPD released a video Friday showing the moments leading to officers shooting and killing a homicide suspect at an east side gas station.
It happened Sept. 1 at the corner of East 21st Street and Ritter Avenue.
Detectives were tracking 33-year-old James Williams, who was a suspect in a double homicide that happened Aug. 1 in the 4100 block of East 35th Street.
IMPD said Williams was also wanted on a felony warrant from the Indiana Department of Corrections for escape and weapons offenses.
IMPD released surveillance video from the gas station that seems to show a gun in the waistband of Williams' shorts.
Detectives waited outside as Williams spent more than an hour inside the gas station.
The video shows detectives wearing vests with the word "POLICE" on both the front and back as they approached Williams as he came outside the gas station.
Williams ran back into the store and detectives followed.
In the video, officers can be heard ordering customers and the clerk to leave the store.
As Williams stood at one end of the store facing officers, the video appears to show him putting a cellphone on a counter. Police said the video then shows Williams pointing a handgun in his right hand at officers. Two officers fired their guns, shooting Williams.
Responding officers and a SWAT medic are said to have provided medical aid to Williams until an ambulance arrived and medics pronounced Williams dead.
No officers or other people inside the gas station were injured in the deadly shooting.
The detectives involved in the shooting don't wear body cameras since they aren't patrol officers.
The shooting is still being investigated by IMPD's Critical Incident Response Team and Internal Affairs. It will be handed over to the prosecutor's office to determine what if any charges will be filed. The incident will also be looked at by the Civilian-Majority Use of Force Review Board.
Officers ran ballistic testing on the gun Williams had and found it was used in the double homicide on Aug. 1, a shooting that killed one and injured another in June of 2020, and a hit-and-run in June of 2020 where shots were fired.
- The Aug. 1 homicide happened in the 4100 block of East 35th Street, east of Sherman Drive. Detectives believe the vehicle was eastbound on East 35th Street when the incident occurred. The vehicle then veered off the roadway, striking a tree. The investigation indicates a robbery may have been the motive that led to the homicide that left a man and woman dead.
This video is from a 13News report at the time of the shooting in September 2021:
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