A Marion County man arrested on what he believed was simply an outstanding warrant is now facing a stack of violent felony charges after prosecutors say he shot his roommate and fired at his girlfriend during a dispute at their far eastside apartment last month. Larry Wood Jr. is charged with aggravated battery, attempted domestic battery with a deadly weapon, criminal recklessness, pointing a firearm, and possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon in connection with the August 13 shooting on Redbrook Court.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police were dispatched around 6:40 p.m. that evening to a reported shooting in the 1200 block of Redbrook Court, according to Fox 59. Officers found a man suffering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen, and court filings reported by the station indicate hospital records show he was taken to a local hospital in stable condition after the shooting.
Court documents describe an evening that started with Wood, his girlfriend, and his roommate — the wounded man — sitting together drinking and smoking marijuana. When an argument broke out between Wood and his roommate, Wood reportedly took the marijuana into his bedroom and came back out with a Glock-style handgun, according to the filings. He then shot his roommate multiple times and fired a shot at his girlfriend, who was not struck by the gunfire.
Victim Says He Crawled to Escape
The wounded man, who described Wood's girlfriend as a longtime friend and lived in the apartment with the couple, told investigators he crawled toward a back door to escape and seek help after being shot. According to court documents, he said he believed Wood would have shot him more times and killed him had he not gotten out of the apartment.
The filings also detail a chilling detail preceding the violence: the wounded roommate told investigators Wood had threatened to kill both him and his girlfriend shortly before the shooting took place, the station's report notes. Wood has declined to discuss the shooting itself, per the same account.
An Arrest That Started With a Different Warrant
When police first took Wood into custody, he said he thought the matter concerned an outstanding warrant for failing to register as a sex offender, stemming from a previous child molestation conviction. That warrant is what initially brought Wood into police custody, but Marion County prosecutors have since filed the broader set of felony charges tied to the Redbrook Court shooting.
Under Indiana law, failing to register or update residence information on the state sex offender registry is generally a Level 6 felony punishable by six months to 2.5 years in prison, though it escalates to a Level 5 felony for repeat offenders, according to IndyJustice. Registered sex offenders in Indiana must report annually and disclose address changes within statutory deadlines.
Steep Prison Exposure on Multiple Fronts
The most serious charge Wood faces — possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon — is a Level 4 felony under Indiana Code § 35-47-4-5, carrying a statutory penalty of 2 to 12 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, per FindLaw. Qualifying serious violent felonies under the statute include child molestation and prior aggravated battery convictions.
His aggravated battery charge, meanwhile, is a Level 3 felony carrying a statutory prison sentence of 3 to 16 years with an advisory sentence of 9 years, according to Justia Law. Prosecutors must prove the injury created a substantial risk of death or permanent disfigurement to sustain that charge. Marion County prosecutors filed the case on September 3, and an initial hearing in Marion County is scheduled for Monday.
Part of a Broader Pattern in Marion County
Wood's case echoes a pattern Marion County prosecutors have shown with other convicted violent felons found carrying handguns. In a case Hoodline covered in July, prosecutors filed parallel felony counts — including Level 1 attempted murder, Level 3 aggravated battery, and Level 4 firearm possession by a serious violent felon — against another Indianapolis resident tied to a separate shooting investigation, with that defendant held on a $6.4 million bond.
The Redbrook Court shooting also lands amid a broader decline in Indianapolis gun violence. IMPD crime statistics reported by FOX59 in August showed non-fatal shootings dropped by nearly 50 percent compared to 2022 levels, a trend local authorities attribute to targeted violent offender task forces and crime-gun intelligence work. Still, a Crime Gun Intelligence Center report found Indianapolis has routinely recorded more than 400 non-fatal shootings a year, with non-fatal firearm victims outnumbering gun homicide victims by nearly four to one during peak years like 2020 and 2021, when nonfatal shootings hit a high of 678.
Those caseloads land on a department already stretched thin. Operational reports analyzed by Omnilert show IMPD has consistently operated between 200 and 300 officers below its authorized strength of 1,743 sworn officers, creating sustained workload pressures for public safety response even as violent crime trends downward citywide.
