A nurse credits LaPorte County Sheriff’s Deputy Jon Samuelson for saving his life Friday morning by pushing a suspect’s hand pointing a gun away from him in a Michigan City emergency room Friday morning, court records show.
The man holding the gun, identified as Sharod L. Grafton, allegedly then turned the handgun on Samuelson in the Franciscan Health Michigan City emergency room and shot him in the neck. Samuelson is paralyzed from the chest down, court records state.
The male nurse credits Samuelson for saving his life because “if it were not for his actions, he would have been shot by the suspect.”
Samuelson was struck three times by bullets Friday morning in the hospital’s emergency room. He is in South Bend Memorial Hospital in critical but stable condition. No one else was injured in the shooting.
The deputy never used his gun during the confrontation, the court record states.
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Grafton, 22, of Chicago, is charged with attempted murder, battery against a public safety official and auto theft. He is being held in the Porter County Jail.
A probable cause statement filed by LaPorte County Prosecutor Sean Fagan gives details about what occurred that morning. Video cameras recorded Grafton fighting against Samuelson’s attempt to arrest him and the shots fired.
Samuelson was on his way to training in Michigan City when he came upon a disabled Chrysler 300 at LaPorte County Road 900 W. and Ind. 2 at 6:34 a.m. Friday.
The driver of the car, identified as Grafton, requested a ride to the hospital, and Samuelson fulfilled that request.
Samuelson was unaware that the man he was transporting to Franciscan-Michigan City on Friday morning was wanted for stealing a car at gunpoint from his mother in Chicago earlier that day, court records show.
A BOLO (Be on the Lookout) message from the Chicago Police Department about Grafton didn’t reach the Westville Police Department until 6:50 a.m., when Samuelson was giving Grafton a ride.
Samuelson dropped Grafton at the front entrance of the emergency room, but when Samuelson learned that Grafton was wanted, he entered the emergency room and then located Grafton in the waiting room and tried to subdue him.
Grafton pulled a gun out of his coverall and pointed it toward Samuelson, and then both wrestled on the floor.
“During Deputy Samuelson’s fight to restrain Grafton and gain control of the gun he produced, the door to the triage area opened. Both Deputy Samuelson and Grafton then tumbled through the open door and into the triage area,” the probable cause statement said.
A female registered nurse opened the door and saw the two rolling on the floor. Samuelson yelled to her to call security.
As she was leaving, she heard two gunshots.
Shortly afterward, the male nurse came to the door of the triage room, and Grafton shot Samuelson in the neck, records state.
The hospital surveillance video showed that Samuelson stopped moving and Grafton escaped Samuelson’s hold.
Samuelson was motionless, lying face down on the floor. Grafton pointed the pistol over him and tried to fire but it jammed, investigators later found.
Grafton was arrested a short time later in a wooded area west of the hospital. A Glock pistol was recovered nearby.
The first bullet wound entered Samuelson’s front left shoulder and exited through the rear left shoulder. A second bullet grazed his right calf.
The last bullet entered Samuelson’s head behind his left ear, exited through his neck and re-entered his neck and lodged in the T1 vertebrae. The deputy suffered paralysis from the chest down because the bullet lodged in his spine.
The probable cause statement also details how Grafton allegedly pulled a gun on his mother at 3 a.m. at her residence in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood.
The woman stated that Grafton had barricaded himself inside her home with her two daughters, who are 10 and 1. She stated that Grafton suffers from PTSD and that when she encountered him, Grafton pointed a small handgun at her and demanded the keys to her silver Chrysler 300.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.