Attempted murder charges filed after shootout wounds Evansville officer

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — A probationary police officer, hit twice early Sunday morning during a shootout while pursuing suspects of a car theft, was left with what the Evansville mayor on Monday called serious injuries.

Officer Samuel Taylor had one bullet graze his head, and another strike his upper left arm, Evansville Police Chief Philip Smith said in a Monday noontime news conference livestreamed on Facebook.

Prosecutors on Monday filed attempted murder charges against Jailani Chew in Vanderburgh Circuit Court. The police chief said Chew had turned 18 just a month ago. Online court records did not say when Chew might be given an initial hearing, but his bond was set at $1 million on Monday.

A 15-year-old also was in custody in connection to the case, the police chief said. The 15-year-old’s name and gender were not shared at the news conference.

Democratic Mayor Stephanie Terry said during the news conference that Taylor faces a long recovery after the “devastating act of violence.”

Evansville Police Department officers about 1:30 a.m. Sunday spotted a stolen blue 2019 Toyota Corolla near East Virginia Street and Canal Street, which is just east of U.S. 41. The police chief said officers approached the car as it entered as commercial area off East Virginia Street just west of the U.S. 41 intersection, an area with an On The Fly gas station and a Rally’s restaurant.

As officers approached the vehicle, Chew and the 15-year-old driver fled. The 15-year-old was initially tasered, but officers left the 15-year-old after Chew fled across the street to the gas station, On The Fly, where he tried to carjack an SUV, leading to the shootout that injured Taylor. Officer Seth Gorman, Taylor’s trainer, shot Chew after he’d shot at Taylor. Chew was taken to a hospital for treatment before he entered the Vanderburgh County jail on Monday afternoon.

The 15-year-old was later found on the roof of a charter school with the help of police dogs and a drone. The 15-year-old also had been injured.

Video shown at the news conference revealed Chew reaching for his gun and pointing it at Taylor’s bodycam, the police chief said.

In addition to two top-level felony count of attempted murder, Chew also was charged with a mid-level felony of armed robbery, a low-level felony of resisting law enforcement, and six low-level felonies of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon.

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