Suspect fatally shot by Gary police after attacking officer with machete: officials

GARY, Ind. - A 21-year-old man was shot and killed by Gary police after attacking an officer with a machete during an undercover operation, authorities said.

The incident happened at 12:20 p.m. Wednesday in the 3400 block of Maryland Street.

The Gary Police Department’s Investigation Unit was conducting a sting operation tied to a surge of robberies linked to social media marketplace exchanges, when police say an undercover officer posing as a buyer was violently attacked.

The undercover officer, a 32-year veteran, approached the suspect to initiate a scheduled exchange. 

During the interaction, the situation escalated and the suspect attacked the officer with a "machete-style weapon," Gary police said.

Officers who were staged nearby as part of the reaction team witnessed the attack, and one of them fired at the suspect. The suspect was struck by gunfire and later died from his injuries at a hospital, police said.

The suspect was identified by the Lake County Coroner's Office as 21-year-old Shahaud Richmond, of Gary.  

Richmond was pinpointed as a person of interest tied to threats of violence and money/property being stolen during social media marketplace sales—an investigation that was launched after a string of similar robberies were reported to police this fall.

"Since late October, our Investigations Bureau narrowed down a suspect, and during that engagement, they also set up the undercover purchase of the items for sale. During this operation, the suspect attempted to rob our undercover officer and attacked him with the machete-style weapon," said Gary Police Chief Derrick Cannon. "This resulted in the reacting of that same operation to engage the suspect, who continued his violent behavior and resulted in one of our officers firing upon this suspect."

The suspect’s cause of death was gunshot wounds, but toxicology results are pending, according to the Lake County Coroner’s Office.

The undercover officer was injured in the attack and taken to a hospital for treatment; the officer is reportedly in stable condition.

Meanwhile, the officer involved in the shooting will be placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Lake County Sheriff's Department.