CROMWELL - A Cromwell man was shot twice Thursday night after a nine-hour standoff in front of his home near Lake Wawasee.
Gary Helman, 50, of 9174 E. Doswell Blvd., Cromwell, was shot twice by Indiana State Police's Emergency Response Team after police say he reached for a gun in his waistband.
Indiana State Police attempted to serve warrants to Helman shortly after 10 a.m.
One warrant from Kosciusko County was for pointing a firearm, while the other two were for invasion of privacy from another county. There was no information concerning the particulars of the firearm charge as of this morning.
According to Indiana State Police Public Information Officer Trent Smith, Helman got into an argument with police, then went back into his residence in the Enchanted Hills Subdivision.
Police began negotiating with Helman, who police said had a handgun sticking out of the waistband of his pants, and with Helman's brother and mother.
According to Smith, officers with the U.S. Marshals arrived at some point because of letters Helman allegedly had sent to U.S. District Court that accused police, judges and other law enforcement employees of wrongdoing.Smith described Helman as somebody who "had problems with police" and that "for whatever reason (Thursday) Mr. Helman decided he was going to fight the police."
At 7:20 p.m. Thursday, Helman once again exited the rear of his house and entered an open field. According to police, ISP's emergency response team directed Helman to stop and allow officers to place him under arrest.
At that point, police state that Helman turned toward the officers and began to run while he pulled the gun out of his waistband.
"All I heard was a kaboom," said Doug Chilar, who lives in the neighborhood.
Smith stated police fired a loud warning shot, known as a flash bang, then shot Helman twice. Helman was shot once in the hip and once in the leg.
Neighbors said they heard several gun shots, but Smith said he believed only three shots were fired.
Helman fell to the ground and EMTs were called to the scene.
Helman was stable when he was transported to Kosciusko Community Hospital. According to KCH, Helman was in stable condition as of this morning.
Neighbors claimed police were at Helman's residence a month earlier.
Along with the three outstanding warrants, Helman may face additional charges from Thursday's incident through the Kosciusko County Prosectuor's Office.
Smith said that around 15 officers from both ISP and the U.S. Marshals office were on the scene.
