LARWILL – Police may know where the gun was stolen from that a 17-year-old used in a shooting and attempted carjacking Sunday. According to Chad Hill, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department public information officer, a KCSD officer took a theft report at about 5:47 p.m. Sunday from Roswell A. Clemens, 27, Warsaw, who had seen the media story about the shooting incident. Clemens works at the same location as the shooting victim, Paragon Medical, Pierceton. Hill said after Clemens saw the story, he found that his black Smith & Wesson Bodyguard .380 handgun was missing from the center console of his 2010 Jeep Wrangler. Clemens had left his vehicle unlocked while at work. Upon discovering his handgun missing, Clemens contacted the KCSD. “Officers believe it may be correlated with the Whitley County shooting” but it is not confirmed at this time, Hill said. Dakota Kimbler, 17, of Rome City, the alleged shooter, had escaped from Pierceton Woods Academy, a juvenile detention facility, Saturday night. On Sunday shortly after 7 a.m., Whitley County Sheriff’s Department dispatch received a call from an individual reporting he had been carjacked and shot, and was holding the shooter at gunpoint, according to a joint press release from the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department and the Whitley County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Officers from the WCSD and the Indiana State Police responded to the area near the intersection of Ind. 5 and Old Trail Road, Larwill, and found the caller and the assailant, later identified as Kimbler. The shooting victim was taken to a hospital for medical attention and Kimbler was taken into police custody. A handgun was recovered at the scene, according to the press release. Further investigation revealed that Kimbler had been reported as a runaway Saturday from Pierceton Woods. The press release states that, during a later interview at the hospital, the victim said he finished a shift at Paragon Medical at 7 p.m., got into his car in the parking lot and drove toward home. At some point after entering Whitley County, the victim became aware that there was someone in the backseat and turned to confront the person. At that time, the victim was shot in his chest by Kimbler. Despite being shot, the victim was able to wrestle the gun away from Kimbler and held the assailant at gunpoint while he called for police help and waited for their arrival. Kimbler’s initial hearing was Monday and his pre-trial conference is set for Jan. 7, according to the Whitley County Prosecutor’s Office this morning. Along with attempted murder, Kimbler is being charged with attempted carjacking, a Class B felony; possession of stolen property, a Class D felony; and possession of a handgun without a license, a Class A misdemeanor. According to Monday’s press release, Indiana law provides that a 17-year-old person charged with attempted murder is subject to adult court jurisdiction. The case is still under investigation, according to the Whitley County Prosecutor’s Office.
