Police: Man Arrested In Photographer Shooting

INDIANAPOLIS -- A man who police said was talking to two photographers at the scene of a vacant house fire Friday morning has now been arrested in connection with their shootings, police said.

Derek L. Matthews, 30, was taken in for questioning Friday afternoon and later confessed to shooting the two men with a pellet gun, police said.

Kevin Hankins, 23, a WISH-TV photographer, and freelance photographer, Tod Parker, were each shot while covering the fire early Friday.

The Indianapolis Fire Department was called to a home in the 800 block of North Tacoma Avenue at about 2 a.m.

Indianapolis Metro police officers were at the scene to block traffic, when the two photographers were hit by gunfire just before 2:30 a.m.

"(Officers were) very close, but it was very noisy and they didn't hear anything," said Indianapolis Metro police Sgt. Paul Thompson. "There was a small crowd of people just to the west of the fire scene, and they believe … whatever weapon was used came from that area."

Hankins was struck in the back and Parker, who was shooting still pictures for the Indianapolis Fire Department, was hit in the arm.

Both were taken to Methodist Hospital and later released.

Police said Matthews -- who lives on the same block where the fire happened -- had spoken to the photographers before they were shot, asking why they weren't around when he had been shot earlier this month.

"I was adjusting my camera when I heard a pop off to my right," Parker told 6News' Rick Hightower. "It wasn't until after a lot of scrambling we figured out I'd been shot."

"All of a sudden (I) felt and heard a smack and a pop on my left back," Hankins said. He lifted his shirt and discovered he was bleeding.

A firefighter's air tank was also hit by a pellet, police said, but the firefighter was not injured.

Police said they recovered the pellet gun used in the shooting at Matthews' home.