Two Gary men were shot and killed — one by the city’s SWAT team — over the course of 17.5 hours Tuesday and Wednesday.
Around 3 p.m. Jan. 24, Gary Police dispatch received a number of 911 hang-up calls from a residence in the 1500 block of Chase Street, Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Glen Fifield said in a release Wednesday. Officers were sent to the residence, and upon arrival, a woman ran to them from the house, Fifield said.
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The woman told the officers that it was a domestic situation and there was an armed man inside the house, Fifield said, after they saw a man inside with a large weapon. The officers tried to talk with the man, but he refused and wouldn’t step outside the house, so they contacted a hostage/crisis negotiator and Gary SWAT for assistance, he said.
Once the negotiator arrived, he attempted to talk to the man to no avail, Fifield said, but he did eventually leave the house and got into a vehicle out front holding a weapon to his head. As officers once again tried to speak to him, the situation escalated and officers shot and killed him, Fifield said.
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Both ISP and the Lake County Coroner’s Office identified the man as Edward E. Gant, 43, of the 2100 block of Georgia Street. He died of “multiple gunshot wounds,” a coroner release indicated.
Gary Police Interim Chief Jerry Williams called in ISP’s Criminal Investigation Division to investigate the shooting, Fifield said. That investigation is ongoing.
“Public safety is our top priority in the City of Gary, and we will support the Indiana State Police in its investigation,” Williams said in a release, adding that the department “will not offer any further comments on this matter.”
Then around 7:41 a.m. Wednesday, Gary officers were sent to the 500 block of Chase Street in reference to a gunshot victim while also receiving a call of shots fired in the 500 block of Taney Place, Gary Police Spokeswoman Lt. Dawn Westerfield said in a release. They found at the Chase Street residence a Black man with a gunshot wound, she said.
That man — Dawquan Walker, 23, of the 500 block of Chase Street — was declared dead at the scene, Westerfield said. He also died of multiple gunshots, according to a coroner release.
Witnesses told the officers that the shooters fled on foot, so the officers called in a K9 unit, which was able to track the location of several subjects of interest at a nearby residence, she said.
Gary Metro Homicide is investigating. Anyone with additional information is urged to contact 219-755-3855 or the Crime Tip Line at 866-CRIME-GP. Additional information will be released as it becomes available, Westerfield said.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
