Two men were shot late Monday night on Evansville's north side after neighbors reported hearing more than 10 gunshots ring out near North Garvin and East Missouri streets, and one of the victims has admitted to firing back while he was being shot at. Both men's injuries are described as non-life-threatening, but the victims did not know who had shot them or why.
Officers were dispatched to the 700 block of North Garvin Street just after 10:30 p.m. Monday, according to a news release from the Evansville Police Department. When officers arrived, they located a male victim in the 100 block of East Missouri Street who had been shot in the right rear hip area. A second male victim showed up separately at a local hospital with a gunshot wound to the chest, and investigators responded there to take his statement.
That second victim, the one shot in the chest, told investigators he had shot back while he was being fired upon, per the department's account. Both men said they did not know who had shot them or why, leaving detectives to piece together the circumstances of the gunfire largely through physical evidence and neighborhood canvassing rather than victim testimony.
Detectives Lean on Cameras and Evidence as Victims Come Up Empty
Detectives recovered numerous pieces of evidence at the scene and canvassed the surrounding area along North Garvin and East Missouri streets for surveillance video, according to reporting by WSON Radio. With both men reporting they had no idea who targeted them, that video canvassing and any tips from the public could aid the investigation. Investigators are asking anyone with information to contact the Adult Investigation Unit at 812-436-7979.
The neighborhood has seen gun trouble before. Just weeks earlier, Evansville police responded to a separate shots-fired report on South Garvin Street and took a suspect into custody, as reported by WFIE 14 News. It's not yet known whether that earlier incident has any connection to Monday night's shooting, and nothing in the department's release ties the two together.
Self-Defense Claim Raises Legal Questions Under Indiana Law
The chest-shot victim's admission that he returned fire puts Indiana's self-defense statute squarely into the picture. Under Indiana Code § 35-41-3-2, people are legally justified in using deadly force to protect themselves or others if they reasonably believe it's necessary to prevent serious bodily injury, and the state imposes no duty to retreat before doing so, according to legal reference site Justia Law.
That protection isn't absolute, however. Legal analysis published by Indiana law firm Dogan & Dogan notes that self-defense claims do not hold up if the person invoking them was the initial aggressor, escalated the violence, or was actively committing a crime at the time. Whether that applies here remains an open question that would fall to investigators and prosecutors to sort out, not something either the department's release or the available reporting has resolved. Neither man has been named a suspect.
A Busy Corridor for Evansville's Overnight Patrol Shift
Monday's shooting landed during what the Evansville Police Department has identified as its busiest stretch of the day. The department's second shift, running from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m., handled more than 3,500 dispatch calls in a single month, per the department's own reporting. Citywide, officers responded to shots-fired calls.
The department currently employs sworn officers; no staffing comparison is established here. A 2022 shooting was reported near Garvin Street, though there's no indication in current reporting that Monday's shooting is connected to that older incident.
The case follows a Hoodline report on a gun-violence incident in Evansville this year, including a teen's arrest after a Bedford Avenue gun run earlier this month that ended with nine firearms seized. No arrests have been announced in Monday's shooting, and anyone with information is urged to call the Adult Investigation Unit.
