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Evansville commissioners describe recent surge in shootings after officer-involved shooting
Summary
Commissioner Rodney Culver reported a rise in South Side shootings and provided details on a Sept. 21 officer-involved shooting in which an 18-year-old suspect was shot after firing at an officer. The officer was hospitalized and underwent surgery; an adult who supplied the gun was later arrested.
Commissioner Rodney Culver told the Evansville Human Relations Commission on Thursday that the city has seen a recent increase in shootings, with the South Side registering 18 incidents so far this month.
Culver said the most serious recent incident occurred in the early hours of Sept. 21, when officers stopped a stolen vehicle. Two males fled the car; one, identified by Culver as 18‑year‑old Jelani Chu, was chased by officers. Culver said Chu attempted to hijack a car at gunpoint and then fired at an officer. "I think he's alive. He's alive," Culver said of the officer who was struck. "It was just very careless of him," he added, referring to the suspect's decision to fire on officers.
Culver said officers returned fire, striking Chu multiple times. The officer and the suspect were taken to Deaconess Midtown for treatment. Culver said the officer went into surgery at about 3:00 a.m. and was still recovering; he described the officer as having a long road ahead and asked the community to pray for him.
Culver told the commission the other person who fled was a 15‑year‑old juvenile who was later found and detained. Culver said the firearm used was a .22 caliber and that a 25‑year‑old individual was arrested for providing the weapon. "We had a total of 18 shotfire runs just in the South Side alone," Culver said, adding that last month the city had about 52 shooting incidents, with roughly 22 or 23 on the South Side.
Culver and other commissioners framed the episode as part of a broader concern about youth access to firearms and parental responsibility, saying incidents involving teens late at night point to family and community issues. Culver suggested a need for a more proactive, collective approach to curb gun violence.
No formal action or vote was taken on the topic during the meeting; commissioners discussed statistics and the recent shooting during the old‑business portion of the agenda.
