18-year-old arrested in Jackson County Public Library shooting

SEYMOUR, Ind. (WISH) — A Seymour man was arrested on two preliminary charges of attempted murder on Wednesday after firing a gun in the Jackson County Public Library in Seymour.

Indiana State Police says Emiliano Cuevas-Bravo, 18, was taken into custody after he fired a shot toward two library employees just before noon Wednesday. That shot shattered a window, and glass from that injured a library employee.

The gunfire did not hurt anyone.

State police said Cuevas-Bravo then went upstairs and put down the gun. A library patron tackled Cuevas-Bravo and held him until help arrived.

State police Sgt. Stephen Wheeles said, “Enough can’t be said about the actions of the patron inside the library and the actions that he took, very heroic and brave, and, fortunately, appears possibly could have saved countless others from being injured more severely.”

At noon, a 911 call reported an active shooter at the library. Seymour Police Department said in a statement that officers “quickly took the shooter into custody.”

The incident lasted less than two minutes.

State police say Cuevas-Bravo initially targeted a Seymour Police Department school resource officer stationed at Seymour High School. He never entered the school or made contact with the officer.

Cuevas-Bravo was also preliminarily charged with a count of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and a count of intimidation.

Library Director Julia Aker told The Tribune what she saw when the gunman attacked. “I ran to look next to the elevator and there was a man in the lobby, all in black, and I think he had a black baseball cap on and he had a shotgun aimed in this (the circulation section’s) direction,” she said.

One library patron saw the shooter while he was inside library. “He was all dressed in black and he had a shotgun and he was pointing at people. He was trying to get another shell in it, and he was quoting that he was going to shoot somebody,” Bill Hunsucker told The Tribune.

Police blocked off the area during their investigation.