The St. John police chief is asking for patience, when it comes to the details of Tuesday's officer-involved shooting.
An officer said he fired several shots at a vehicle that was coming toward him while he was investigating an unoccupied vehicle near the intersection of 93rd and Cline around 2:30 a.m. He eventually caught up to the vehicle and took the driver into custody. Neither of them was seriously injured, but the officer was taken to the hospital to be checked out.
While the St. John Police Department didn't identify the individuals involved, Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. said the person who was shot at was an off-duty Hammond Police officer who lives in St. John. In a series of tweets, McDermott said the off-duty officer maintains he did nothing wrong and actually maneuvered his vehicle to the other side of the road, when he was "suddenly" fired upon. McDermott called the incident a dangerous and unnecessary use of deadly force and called the St. John officer a "danger to society."
The St. John officer is on paid administrative leave, while the Lake County Sheriff's Department conducts an investigation.
In a follow-up statement Wednesday, St. John Police Chief Steven Flores said he's gotten a number of requests for details, but releasing them now would jeopardize the investigation. He promises to release information "in a fully transparent and professional fashion" once the investigation is complete. Flores says the town of St. John offers its "sincere thoughts and prayers to all parties involved."