South Bend Mayor, police chief and city leaders respond to fatal officer-involved shooting

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — On Sunday night, city leaders including the Mayor of South Bend and South Bend Police Chief held a press conference regarding the officer involved shooting which took place Sunday morning. 

Mayor Pete Buttigieg, SBPD Chief Scott Ruszkowski, Board of Public Safety President John Collins, Jr., and South Bend Common Council President Tim Scott spoke at a press conference on the 14th floor of the County-City Building at 10 p.m. Sunday. Mayor Buttigieg said he had to change his presidential campaign schedule in order to be in town to speak at tonight’s conference and meet with community leaders on Monday. 

“As you know there was an incident his morning that led to an officer-involved shooting,” the Mayor said. "The city and my own thoughts are with everyone who is impacted by this tragic case. Even as we wait to learn more, we will contine to work as a city to make sure this is a safe community, where everyone is treated fairly and where everyone is able to thrive." 

The St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office released the following two updates throughout the day on Sunday regarding a fatal shooting on the 100 block North William Street:

“This morning shortly before 3:30 a.m., dispatch received a call regarding a suspicious individual allegedly going through cars. The South Bend Police Department was then dispatched to the 100 block of N. William.

A South Bend Police Officer responded and engaged a subject who was partially in a vehicle in the Central High School Apartments parking lot. The subject exited the vehicle and approached the officer with a knife raised. The officer reportedly discharged his service weapon, striking the subject.

The subject, who is in his 50’s, was transported to the hospital in critical condition. He was later pronounced deceased.

The officer was treated for minor injuries and discharged.”

“The individual shot in this morning’s officer-involved shooting has been identified, and his family has been notified. He has been identified as Eric Jack Logan, 53 years old, of South Bend. 

An autopsy has been scheduled for tomorrow morning, June 17th, at 10:00 a.m. in Fort Wayne, Indiana. 

This investigation remains active and ongoing and CMHU will release further information to the public as it is able to do so.”

Logan’s family, including his wife Shafonia Logan, showed up to the Mayor’s Office before the press conference. The family said they wanted answers to the following questions:

• Why the paramedics were not called?
• What was evidence left at the scene?
• Why was the family notified of Logan’s death over the phone?
• Who is the officer involved in the shooting?

"He called me yesterday and he said he was out with his friends," said Shafonia Logan. "He asked me to come and get him. I told him I was in the bed and to come home. He said, 'Well, I'm going to walk to my mom's,' and that's when I got the call the he was gone. He was just three minutes away from his mother's house, so I don't know what happened." 

ABC 57 News reached out to the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office requesting the name of the officer on Sunday night. 

His wife denies the claims of Logan having a knife made by the report submitted to the prosecutor’s office. The family said they met with Chief Ruszkowski after Sunday’s press conference, but did not get any answers. 

"I want justice for my husband," said Logan. "Nobody know(s) what go on but the police and him. He's not here to tell it and I would like for an investigation to be done to let us know what happened to my husband, Eric Logan." 

The criminal case, which includes the death of Logan, has been taken over by the St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit, an agency separate from the South Bend Police Department and the City of South Bend. A representative from CMHU was not present at Sunday’s press conference to answer questions about the case. 

“With all cases for an officer-involved shooting we follow a very specific protocol,” Mayor Buttigieg said. “Any updates related to the facts of the case or their findings will come from that office.”

Mayor Buttigieg said the purpose of the CMHU investigation is to ‘determine whether the officer’s use of force was justified and whether there was criminal behavior on the part of anybody’ a part of the incident. 

Mayor Buttigieg said pending this investigation the officer a part of the incident has been placed on administrative leave. 

After the CMHU investigation, Mayor Buttigieg said there will be a separate process in the police department called the ‘internal affairs process.’ He said the scope of this investigation is to ‘determine whether the policies or procedures of the police department were followed.’

In cases where there are findings where policies and procedures have not been followed, those cases would then go before the five-member Board of Public Safety. 

“I know that whenever an incident like this happens there is tremendous hurt that can come about that the city will be hurting,” Mayor Buttigieg said. “We will be striving to reach out to community members to community leaders to keep the channel of communication open even as we wait for more facts to come in.”

A vigil has been scheduled for 8 p.m. on Monday at 501 West Washington Street. 

“I’d like to thank everyone for their help,” Logan’s wife said. “I’d like everyone to continue helping and I’d like for everyone to come out and be involved in what’s going on until we get to the bottom of the situation.”