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Bodycam video from May shows man raised gun before IMPD officers fired

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Officers shot at least a dozen times at 48-year-old Monolito Ford, according to video provided to I-Team 8 by Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

Officers were called May 14 on a report of a suicidal man and shots fired into the air in the 3800 block of Red Mill Place. Ford had been spotted by neighbors walking up and down the street with a gun. Police had a less lethal firearm, but Ford raised his gun toward police and they fired. 

At least one of the first officers to arrive at the Red Mill apartment complex was one of the 350 IMPD officers with a less lethal launcher. Bodycam video released by IMPD shows the officer getting the orange stock firearm out of his trunk and preparing it for action.  

Police headed to the scene were told by a dispatch operator that Ford was having some type of mental episode. Police on scene asked for officers with less lethal firearms. IMPD records show two such officers were sent to the scene.  

Sgt. Mike Daley, a firearm instructor for the department, told I-Team 8 before the video was released that the less lethal launcher is intended to be used when police encounter someone like Ford.   

“It gives the officer a force option to deal with somebody that is violent and typically armed,” Daley said.

 The launcher shoots a Kevlar fabric bag filled with lead shot. It’s accurate from around 60 feet. As the officer with the launcher approached, it is hard to tell if he was within that acceptable range. 

 At the time, two other officers were trying to talk Ford into dropping his gun. The video shows Ford raise his gun towards police. In the following seconds, officers fired at least a dozen times.  

From the video, it appears the less lethal firearm was not fired and the officer dropped the launcher and pulled his sidearm and started shooting.  

The department declined to comment any further on the shooting, I-Team 8 is told there is an ongoing internal investigation.