A Hammond man is charged after allegedly shooting at police officers after they responded to check on him. One officer was hit in a bulletproof vest, documents state.
Gilbert Eatman, 33, is charged with three counts of attempted murder.
He is in custody, held on a $15,000 cash bond. He made a court appearance Monday, when he was appointed a public defender, online court records show. His next hearing is July 30.
Police responded at 2:13 p.m. July 16 to an apartment building on the 200 block of Carroll Street for a welfare check.
A relative told officers Eatman “sounded like he was in a ‘psychosis,’” documents state. Police learned he had spent “multiple days awake,” was “online posting erratically,” and “arguing with people,” charges allege.
As police waited for the landlord, they dialed Eatman’s phone inside the apartment; he was “not cooperative,” records show.
“This is my house! Why are you guys doing this to me,” he told officers through the door after the landlord arrived, before threatening possible self-harm.
When an officer tried to open the door, Eatman forced it shut and locked the padlock. Eatman “shouted” police were breaking in, the affidavit states. He declined to follow commands to come outside, records state.
“Watch this! Watch this,” Eatman said.
As Eatman went further inside the apartment, an officer partially unlocked the door, still attached by the security chain. Eatman appeared to get an object from the closet, records state. The officer forced the door fully open, breaking the security chain. The affidavit states police stayed outside the doorway.
Eatman allegedly walked out of a bedroom, racked a gun, aimed it, then fired “multiple” shots “toward the doorway” and “through the wall leading out into the hallway and staircase” at retreating officers, records state. One officer was struck in the back “at the top of his vest,” records state.
A different officer saw Eatman later throw gun parts out of a back window, charges show. Police found 10 spent bullet casings in the living room. A witness told police they believed Eatman had recently lost his job, documents state.