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Elkhart police release name of man shot, killed by two Elkhart officers early Wednesday morning

Justin Hicks
/
IPB News

The man shot and killed by two Elkhart police officers early Wednesday morning has been identified as 20-year-old Jahad Patterson of Elkhart.

Elkhart Police Department spokesperson Jessica McBrier told WVPE Wednesday that shortly after 5:25 a.m., two officers responded to a report of a man throwing a bicycle at the window of a liquor store on Hively Avenue.

She said officers found the man in the Big Lots parking lot shortly after 5:30 a.m. and attempted to engage him. During the encounter, two officers fired their weapons, striking the man. He was declared dead at the scene. 

McBrier said a gun was found on the man, but it’s not clear yet if he fired the weapon or pointed it at the officers, who have been identified as Patrolman Scott Swanson and Sergeant Benjamin Martin.

The Elkhart County homicide unit has taken over the investigation, and both officers have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the results.

This is the second time in the last six months that the Elkhart Police have shot and killed someone – in August, an Elkhart Police sergeant shot and killed a 19-year-old while responding to another fatal shooting. 

The county prosecutor’s office declared that the shooting was justified in November.

Contact Jakob at jlazzaro@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @JakobLazzaro.

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Jakob Lazzaro came to Indiana from Chicago, where he graduated from Northwestern University in 2020 with a degree in Journalism and a double major in History. Before joining WVPE, he wrote NPR's Source of the Week e-mail newsletter, and previously worked for CalMatters, Pittsburgh's 90.5 WESA and North by Northwestern.