East Chicago police detained three people late Monday night after a video surfaced showing someone firing a handgun at a vehicle, and officers recovered firearms they believe are connected to the incident. No charges have been filed as investigators continue building the case.
According to a department Facebook post cited by The Times of Northwest Indiana, the East Chicago Police Department's Uniform Patrol Division responded around 9:45 p.m. Monday after receiving a report of an individual captured on video firing a gun at a vehicle. Officers moved quickly, apprehending three suspects and recovering firearms linked to the scene.
The case has since been handed to the department's Criminal Investigation Division, which is working to determine the facts and consult with prosecutors on potential charges. As of the initial report, no formal criminal charges had been filed against the three individuals in custody.
What Charges Could Look Like Under Indiana Law
Indiana law treats gunfire directed at an occupied vehicle as a serious offense. Under Indiana Code § 35-42-2-2, discharging a firearm into an occupied motor vehicle is classified as criminal recklessness as a Level 5 felony, according to Justia Law, carrying a potential sentence of one to six years in state prison and fines of up to $10,000. The same statute also addresses passengers rather than shooters directly: a vehicle passenger who points a firearm at another person or vehicle can face a Level 6 felony charge, punishable by six months to two and a half years behind bars, regardless of whether the driver is ultimately charged.
Any decision on formal charges will rest with Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter, who has led the county's chief prosecuting office for more than 25 years, per NWI Times. Carter's office typically reviews evidence gathered by municipal police before charges are filed in Lake Superior Court, meaning the video footage and recovered firearms will likely play a central role in whatever comes next.
A City Already on Edge After Recent Violence
Monday's shooting adds to a string of violent incidents that have rattled East Chicago in recent months. Just weeks earlier, a 17-year-old boy was fatally shot inside a convenience store on Guthrie Street, a case that sent police and county homicide detectives searching for a masked suspect, as Hoodline reported at the time. That case remains open.
The department, led by Chief Jose L. Rivera Jr., an East Chicago native and 27-year veteran of the force who took office in June 2022 after graduating from the city's Central High School, has leaned heavily on technology to manage patrols amid staffing constraints. In 2023 the department rolled out ResourceRouter, a dynamic patrol management tool that uses real-time ShotSpotter alert data and local crime trends to position officers in high-risk areas, according to SoundThinking. The same reporting notes the city recorded five homicides in 2023, a 10-year record low marking a 55% drop from 11 homicides the year before, and the department achieved a 100% homicide clearance rate in 2024.
Those gains have come despite setbacks on the technology front. A proposed $150,000 federal grant that would have funded body-worn cameras for East Chicago officers was eliminated by federal budget cuts in April 2025, according to reporting on a congressional visit to the department by U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan. Without that funding, officers responding to incidents like Monday's shooting continue to rely on citizen video and department surveillance tools rather than body cameras to build their cases.
For now, key questions remain unresolved: whether the video evidence will support Level 5 felony charges against whoever fired the weapon, what specific roles the three detained individuals played in the incident, and whether the recovered firearms tie back to any previously unsolved cases in the city. Those answers will likely emerge as the Criminal Investigation Division completes its review and consults further with Carter's office.
