Police-related deaths spark protests in Indianapolis

Protesters in face masks gathered outside the City-County Building in downtown Indianapolis on Thursday chanting, “No justice, no peace.” Three adults and an unborn baby died in encounters with city police officers in the past two days. Two of the deaths appear to have involved armed suspects who exchanged gunfire with police officers.

What set off the unrest? On Wednesday, an African American man led police officers on a high-speed car chase that they eventually called off because of safety reasons. According to police, another officer later spotted the suspect’s car on a city street. The suspect fled on foot, shooting at the officer pursuing him. In the exchange of gunfire, the officer, who is also African American, shot and killed the 21-year-old suspect identified as Dreasjon “Sean” Reed. The suspect had livestreamed the incident on Facebook, and the video captured a detective as he approached the scene saying, “I think it’s going to be a closed casket, homie.” Later that night, a vehicle driven by longtime police officer Jonathan Henderson struck and killed a 23-year-old pregnant woman walking on an expressway ramp. Neither she nor her baby survived. Early on Thursday morning, police officers shot and killed 19-year-old McHale Rose after receiving a call for a burglary. Police said Rose shot at them once they arrived and called the incident a likely “ambush-style attack.”

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Janie B. Cheaney’s column on a way forward for race relations in the United States.