A man remained in critical condition Thursday after Indianapolis police say he was assaulting a woman in the parking lot of a Carrabba's Italian Grill on the city's south side when her son arrived and shot him. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department was called to the restaurant at 4690 Southport Crossing Drive just before 7 p.m. Tuesday, and investigators believe the man had been abusing the woman in the lot before the shooting occurred.
According to USA Carry, the woman's son arrived at the parking lot while the assault was underway and shot the man police say was allegedly abusing his mother. The son stayed at the scene, cooperated with officers, and gave investigators his account of what happened, the outlet reports. IMPD has not identified the woman, her son, or the man who was shot, and police have not described what the son saw when he pulled into the lot, whether the man was armed, or how far the assault had gone before the gunfire.
The restaurant sits off East Southport Road near the Interstate 65 interchange, a commercial corridor that falls within IMPD's Southeast District. No arrest has been announced, and police have not filed charges as the investigation continues.
What Indiana Law Says About Defending a Family Member
Under Indiana Code § 35-41-3-2, a person is legally justified in using reasonable force, including deadly force, to protect another person from what they reasonably believe is imminent unlawful force, and the statute imposes no duty to retreat before acting, according to FindLaw. The same body of law requires that the threat rise to the level of a forcible felony, which Indiana Code § 35-31.5-2-138 defines as a crime involving the use or threat of force against another person or imminent danger of bodily injury. As the reporting notes, the legal test for defense of another hinges on what the defender reasonably perceived at the moment he acted, not what investigators later determine actually happened.
If the assault the son says he witnessed meets that threshold, Indiana Code § 34-30-31-1 provides that a person who uses justified force in defense of a third party is also shielded from civil personal-injury lawsuits filed by the injured party or their estate, per Justia Law. Deadly force, however, is only justified against an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm, a standard the Marion County Prosecutor's Office will ultimately have to weigh. The office's Criminal Charging Division, headed by Prosecutor Ryan Mears, reviews police reports and evidence to decide whether to file charges, take a case to a grand jury, or decline prosecution on self-defense grounds, according to a description of the office's process.
If the man who was shot survives, he could also face scrutiny under Indiana's domestic battery statute. Indiana Code § 35-42-2-1.3 defines domestic battery as intentionally touching a family or household member in a rude, insolent, or angry manner, and the offense escalates to a Level 5 or Level 6 felony when it causes moderate bodily injury or involves a prior domestic violence history, carrying up to six years in prison under state sentencing guidelines.
A Commercial Strip With a History of Parking Lot Violence
Southport Crossing Drive has seen violence spill into its parking lots before. In February 2025, a fatal shooting occurred in the lot of a Texas Roadhouse at 4335 Southport Crossing Drive, just down the street from Carrabba's, after a fight that started inside the restaurant escalated outside. That same month, an IMPD drug enforcement operation in the 4400 block of the corridor led to a vehicle pursuit and the seizure of 77 grams of fentanyl and $30,000 in cash tied to a fatal overdose investigation.
More recently, a murder trial got underway in Marion County in July for a fatal shooting in July 2025 outside the Mucky Duck Pub, also in the 4400 block of Southport Crossing Drive, where the defense argued the shooter acted to protect himself during an outdoor dispute. Taken together, the string of incidents shows how often disputes that begin indoors on this stretch of the south side have ended in gunfire in the parking lots outside.
For now, the case outside Carrabba's remains open, with the man's condition, the extent of what the son witnessed, and any potential charges against either party still unresolved. The Marion County Prosecutor's Office has not indicated when it expects to complete its review.
