A stranded motorist assisted by a LaPorte County sheriff’s deputy with a ride to Franciscan Health Michigan City is accused of shooting that same deputy three times at the hospital’s emergency room Friday morning, authorities say.
Deputy Jon Samuelson, 33, is in critical condition at South Bend Memorial Hospital. Where he was shot was not being released.
The 22-year-old suspect from Chicago ran west to a wooded nature preserve on the hospital grounds, said Sgt. Glen Fifield, public information officer for the Lowell Post of the Indiana State Police.
Within minutes, the suspect was arrested by police without incident, Fifield said. The suspect was not injured, he said.
A handgun believed to be used by the suspect in Samuelson’s shooting was also found in the woods, Fifield said.
The suspect was transported to the LaPorte County Jail. He was then transferred to the neighboring Porter County Jail as Sheriff Jeff Balon offered to house the man, which is a courtesy extended in cases like this, Fifield said. The Post-Tribune is not identifying him because he has not been formally charged.
Franciscan Health Michigan City was immediately put on lockdown at 7 a.m. Friday as a massive police presence descended from the surrounding area.
Yellow crime scene tape was still visible at the emergency room entrance hours later. Ambulances were being diverted for hours, but those in need of emergency care could walk into the hospital’s main entrance, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Samuelson, a 12-year veteran who is the sheriff’s K-9 officer, comes from a long line of law enforcement officers. His grandfather served as the LaPorte city police chief, said LaPorte County Sheriff Ron Heeg.
Doug Samuelson, Jon’s father, is a retired Michigan City Police officer who works security at Franciscan Health. Heeg said that Doug Samuelson was on duty at the hospital when the shooting occurred. It is not believed that the elder Samuelson was in the emergency room area when the shooting took place.
The Michigan City hospital shooting is the latest in a sequence of shootings at area hospitals.
In Chicago, one police officer was killed and another seriously wounded during a shooting April 25 at Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital.
After being arrested for allegedly robbing a dollar store, Alphanso Talley allegedly told police he had swallowed some drugs, so officers took him to Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital in the Lincoln Square neighborhood to get checked out.
Talley allegedly was able to hide a gun up until a CT scan was about to be performed. That’s when Talley allegedly pulled the pistol — illegally bought in an Indiana straw purchase — out from under a blanket, shooting one officer in the face and a second in the chin.
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“It makes us feel angry. This is a senseless shooting that didn’t have to take place,” Fifield said about the Michigan City shooting. “This officer thought he was helping a stranded motorist and it turns into this.”
Samuelson was on his way to training in Michigan City when he stopped to help the motorist, whose vehicle was disabled, Heeg said.
The Indiana State Police are in charge of the investigation at the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office’s request. Fifield gave the following account of what happened:
Samuelson stopped to help the motorist at LaPorte County Road 900 W. and Ind. 2, about a mile east of Westville at 6:45 a.m.
The deputy agreed to the man’s request to give him a ride to Franciscan Hospital in Michigan City.
After dropping the man off at the hospital, Samuelson learned — either from a dispatcher or a fellow officer — that the man he gave a ride to was wanted in another incident.
During a morning news conference, Fifield had no details about what the 22-year-old man from Chicago had been involved in or when it happened. But it was revealed in a release Friday afternoon that the man was a suspect in an incident in Illinois.
Within minutes, Samuelson entered the emergency room and confronted the suspect.
The suspect pulled out a handgun and fired shots, with three of them hitting Samuelson.
Fifield didn’t have specifics on exactly where the shooting took place in the emergency room or how many witnesses there were.
It is also too early in the investigation to determine if Samuelson also fired his weapon. The suspect was not injured.
Both Fifield and Heeg emphasized that their main concern now is for Samuelson’s health and his family.
On May 9, Javon Townsend, a 17-year-old Michigan City High School student, was fatally shot at an after-prom party held at a rented house in the Town of Pines. Two other Michigan City High School students were critically injured in that shooting. No arrests have been made as the Porter County Sheriff is in charge of that investigation.
Michigan City Police on Thursday announced that Marcus Ballinger, Jr., 19, of Michigan City is being charged with murder in the shooting death of Devin Porter, 14, which occurred at 4:30 p.m. May 15 in the 300 block of W. 11th Street, according to court records.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. The baiduhai contributed.