Owners react to early morning officer involved shooting at liquor store

ELKHART, Ind. --- Two Elkhart police officers have been put on paid administrative leave after allegedly shooting a man trying to break into a liquor store.

The man who was pronounced dead on scene, attempted to break into the store throwing punches and a bicycle just before 5:30 Wednesday morning.

Owners say they were shocked this morning because their security alarms didn’t alert them to any break ins so they had no idea what went down until one of their employees called to let them know they wouldn’t be able to open.

“We’ve been this neighborhood since 2008. We haven’t had any problems. It’s pretty quiet," said Nick Singh, Owner of Handy Spot Liquor.

Handy spot is typically a quiet store on West Hively Avenue, according to owners, but it was anything but quiet Wednesday after officers responded to a vandalism call.

According to surveillance video, seen by ABC57 News, but not shared for broadcast -- a male suspect approached the store twice just before 5:30, Wednesday morning.

The second time becoming aggressive punching the front door with his fists and elbows before throwing a bike.

“We saw our surveillance and the guy was hit trying to break into our door and somebody called the police we wasn’t even aware. The alarm was never triggered cause he never broke the door," said Singh.

None of the owners were at the store during the attempted break in, but say they were lucky to have bulletproof windows.

The suspect died when two of the responding officers shot him. Investigators say police found a gun on the suspect.

Some neighbors say it’s caused them to question their safety.

“In a way I do, in a way I don’t. Til’ everything peep back up, I’ll go to another store," said Terrell Hughes, a customer.

While the Elkhart County Homicide unit continues to investigate the incident, owners say they’re mostly grateful for the person who called police.

“We want to thank you because somebody see they were breaking into the door and somebody called the police and police show up on time and we thank you for everybody," said Singh.

ABC57 has filed a public records request for the body cam footage from the shooting. We’ll continue to bring you latest details on this ongoing investigation both on air and online.