IMPD releases bodycam video from Speedway gas station police shooting
By: The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department released bodycam footage Friday from an October police shooting at a Speedway gas station on the near southeast side.
The officer who fired his weapon was identified as IMPD Patrol Officer Ryan Thomas, who has been with the department for eight years.
Around 7 a.m. on Oct. 19, several Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were wrapping up an unrelated robbery investigation at a Speedway gas station, 2053 Shelby St., when someone told them a man in a car in the parking lot had an active warrant.
The man was later identified as 38-year-old Antoine Beech.
Officers found Beech sitting in the front passenger seat of a white Chevy Impala parked at the gas pumps. Three officers approached Beech, and police say they saw a firearm within his reach.
Officers can be heard in the bodycam footage commanding Beech not to go for his firearm and to show his hands. Police then saw Beech move for his gun, and that is when Thomas shot him in his right hand.
IMPD says Thomas’ bodycam did not activate during the incident. Another officer’s bodycam also did not activate, but was manually activated following the shooting.
Police say that due to the low quality of the gas station’s security camera video, the moment Thomas fired his weapon was not visible.
Officers provided Beech medical aid until emergency services arrived. Along with the gunshot wound to his right hand, IMPD says he had a laceration to his chest.
Beech was stable when transported to Eskenazi Hospital. He was arrested on active warrants for dealing cocaine, resisting law enforcement, and driving while intoxicated. He is facing an additional charge of unlawful possession of a firearm. A court date is set for Feb. 14.
No officers or uninvolved people were injured.