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Court documents say IMPD officer was shot with his own gun

officer shot 1.jpg
Posted at 9:27 PM, May 10, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-11 19:35:20-04

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer was shot with his own weapon during a violent struggle with a shoplifting suspect, according to court documents.

William Allen, 40, is accused of shooting IMPD officer Eric Rosenbaum on May 5 in the 9300 block of Galaxy Lane. Police say Rosenbaum, 29, was attempting to arrest Allen, who was accused of shoplifting power tools at a nearby Lowe's, when the two got into a physical struggle and the officer was shot.

According to the probable cause, Rosenbaum used his Taser on Allen, who proceeded to rip the wires out of the cartridge and make Rosenbaum unable to use it again. Following a chase, Rosenbaum dislocated his shoulder while attempting to hip-toss Allen to the ground.

The court documents say Allen ended up on top of Rosenbaum in the ensuing struggle and allegedly punched Rosenbaum in the face and temporarily blinded him by jabbing his thumbs in Rosenbaum's eyes.

"You're gonna die tonight," Allen allegedly told Rosenbaum.

Allen unsuccessfully attempted to grab the fixed blade knife that was in a retention holster on the front of Rosenbaum's gun belt and then reached for Rosenbaum's gun. With Rosenbaum unable to use his right arm, the documents say Allen was able to control the gun just enough to shoot Rosenbaum in the thigh.

After being shot, Rosenbaum struggled to get the gun back into his holster. He thought it was locked in place when Allen grabbed it with both hands. The documents say Allen then raised the gun up to Rosenbaum's head.

The two fought over the gun when Rosenbaum's shoulder popped back into place and he was able to take it back from Allen. He attempted to shoot Allen, but the gun malfunctioned, according to the probable cause. After Allen ran away, other officers found him and he was taken into custody.

Allen is currently being held in the Marion County Jail.