A 28-year-old Indianapolis man is facing felony charges after police say he pointed a Draco-style rifle at his father and demanded $20 during an argument that ended with gunfire near a home on North Denny Street. DeShawn Edwards was arrested on August 16 and now faces counts including attempted armed robbery, intimidation, criminal recklessness and pointing a firearm at another person.
According to Fox 59, IMPD officers were called to the 2900 block of North Denny Street just after 9:30 a.m. that Sunday after a caller reported hearing at least seven gunshots and believed Edwards was the shooter. The caller told police Edwards had tried to rob his father while wielding a Draco, the report states.
Edwards's father reportedly told police his son entered the house carrying the weapon and demanded $20, threatening to shoot him if he did not hand over the cash. The father said he did not have the money and refused to give Edwards anything, according to the outlet's reporting. Edwards then reportedly fired several shots near the house before fleeing.
A Chase, a Drone and a Parking-Lot Nap
Officers spotted a blue Chevy Tahoe believed to be Edwards's vehicle moving northbound on North Sherman Drive from East 25th Street, per the same account. Its license plate turned out to be expired and registered to a different vehicle, a black 2020 Jeep Wrangler, rather than the Tahoe itself.
An aerial drone was deployed to help track the Tahoe down. Investigators reportedly found that Edwards had pulled into a parking lot and taken a nap before officers, using the drone, located the vehicle again. Police then conducted a high-risk felony traffic stop near East 30th Street and North Sherman Drive, taking Edwards into custody without incident.
Edwards Cut Interview Short, Denied Being There
During questioning, Edwards reportedly denied being at his father's house at all, then ended the interview after saying he did not want to answer any more questions, the station reported. He was booked into the Marion County Jail and now faces a Level 3 felony attempted armed robbery charge, along with Level 5 felony intimidation with a deadly weapon and two Level 6 felony counts — criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and pointing a firearm at another person.
Indiana law spells out steep exposure for the top charge alone: under Indiana Code § 35-42-5-1, robbery committed while armed with a deadly weapon is a Level 3 felony carrying a prison term of 3 to 16 years, with an advisory sentence of 9 years and fines up to $10,000, according to the Indiana Legal Services Authority. The intimidation charge, elevated because a deadly weapon was drawn, is a Level 5 felony punishable by 1 to 6 years, per Keffer Hirschauer LLP. The two Level 6 felony counts each carry a range of 6 months to 2.5 years, according to Indiana Code cited by legal researchers at Justia.
A History That Made the Gun Charges Possible
Court documents cited by Fox 59 indicate Edwards previously shot his father and served jail time for that offense — a prior conviction that court records reportedly cite as the reason he was legally barred from possessing firearms. Online court records reviewed by the station also list a string of earlier charges against Edwards, including unlawful carrying of a handgun, criminal recklessness, carrying a handgun without a license, resisting law enforcement, criminal trespass and narcotics possession. The full circumstances of the underlying shooting conviction remain an open question in the public record.
The weapon described in the police report — a Draco — is a semi-automatic, AK-47-style pistol chambered in 7.62x39mm with a 12.25-inch barrel and no shoulder stock, which classifies it as a handgun under federal ATF guidelines, according to manufacturer specifications from Century Arms. The pistol accepts standard 30-round AK magazines and is produced at Romania's Cugir Arsenal. Draco-style pistols have surfaced in other regional law enforcement stops, including a March traffic stop near McCordsville that led Hoodline to report on an 18-year-old's felony gun charges, and a separate Portland-area stop in May that turned up a loaded Draco, a ski mask and cash.
Case Heads to Trial in October
Edwards had his initial hearing on August 18 at Marion Superior Court 31, and his bond was set at $24,000. A jury trial is scheduled for October 5 before Judge Jeffrey Marchal, who chairs the Criminal Division of the Marion Superior Court and was appointed to the bench by Governor Eric Holcomb in 2022, according to the Indianapolis Bar Association. Proceedings will be held at the Marion County Community Justice Campus at 675 Justice Way, the Twin Aire courthouse and jail complex that opened in 2022.
The case lands amid a broader shift in Indianapolis violent crime statistics. IMPD recorded 133 criminal homicides in 2025, a nearly 45% drop from the city's record high of 241 homicides in 2021, according to data reported by WFYI. IMPD Chief Chris Bailey also reported that citywide robberies fell 18% and nonfatal shootings dropped 21% between 2024 and 2025, per WTHR. Even so, the department has continued operating with a staffing deficit of roughly 200 to 300 officers below authorized strength, a gap that has contributed to emergency response times frequently exceeding target windows, according to Omnilert.
