Authorities are investigating a shooting at Franciscan Health Michigan City (Ind.) that left a La Porte County Sheriff’s Office deputy in critical condition May 22, authorities said during a news conference streamed by ABC affiliate WBND-LD ABC57.
Sheriff Ron Heeg said Deputy Jon Samuelson was shot at the hospital and transported to Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Ind., for emergency treatment. Mr. Heeg said that the deputy was shot three times.
According to Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield, the incident began around 6:45 a.m. when Mr. Samuelson stopped to assist a driver he believed was stranded near Westville, Ind. The deputy transported the individual, identified by police as 22-year-old Sharod Grafton Jr. of Chicago, to Franciscan Health Michigan City at the individual’s request.
At the hospital, authorities said the deputy learned Mr. Grafton may have been connected to an earlier criminal incident. Mr. Fifield said an altercation later occurred in the hospital’s emergency department, during which Mr. Grafton allegedly produced a firearm and shot the deputy.
Police said the suspect fled on foot and was later taken into custody in a wooded area near the hospital. Authorities said a handgun was recovered. Indiana State Police are leading the investigation. The suspect was not injured.
Mishawaka, Ind.-based Franciscan Health said in a statement shared with Becker’s that there is no active threat to patients, staff or the community. The health system said the emergency department remains on ambulance bypass, though walk-in patients are being accepted through the hospital’s main entrance. Franciscan Physician Network medical offices on-site were temporarily closed, while other hospital services remained open.
Memorial Hospital referred media requests to Mr. Fifield.
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