The man who shot and wounded two Indianapolis police officers before being killed in a gunbattle with members of the Indiana Crime Guns Task Force was identified Friday as an ex-convict with three weapons convictions.
The Marion County Coroner's Office said the man killed in Thursday's shooting was 46-year-old Daniel Yefter Ghebrehiwet. He had an AR-15-style rifle and “riddled” a police patrol vehicle with bullets before being killed, according to police.
Indiana Department of Correction records show Ghebrehiwet was convicted of carrying a handgun without a license in 2000 and 2006, as well as another handgun violation in 2017. The records also show a 2000 conviction for receiving stolen auto parts.
The two wounded offers of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department were released Friday from a hospital and haven't been identified.
The police department said it has begun an internal affairs investigation into the shooting and the two wounded officers and two others who fired shots have been placed on administrative leave, standard procedure in an officer-involved shooting investigation.
The civilian-majority Use of Force Review Board also will conduct a hearing, the department said.
The four officers were members of the Indiana Crime Guns Task Force, a joint effort among central Indiana police agencies charged with identifying and removing illegal weapons from the community, IMPD Deputy Chief Christopher Bailey said Thursday.
Bailey said two of the officers were shot after a brief pursuit around 12:40 p.m. Thursday and were taken to the hospital. A passenger from the suspect vehicle fled but was apprehended for questioning, the deputy chief said Thursday.
