Overview
- The deputy intervened inside the Franciscan Health Michigan City emergency room and was shot three times while reportedly rolling the suspect’s hand away from a pistol, according to surveillance video and court records from the incident on Friday morning.
- Police identified the suspect as 22-year-old Sharod Grafton of Chicago, who prosecutors say had earlier stolen his mother’s Chrysler 300 at gunpoint after barricading himself in her home with children present.
- Investigators recovered a Glock and the stolen vehicle’s keys in the bed of a nearby truck and noted a mis-ejected casing in the gun’s ejection port; surveillance shows the suspect tried and failed to enter the deputy’s locked patrol vehicle before fleeing into woods where he was arrested minutes later.
- Deputy Jon Samuelson was airlifted to a South Bend trauma center, underwent lengthy surgery, remains hospitalized, and court documents say a bullet lodged near his spine has left him with severe injuries and limited mobility.
- Sharod Grafton has been charged with attempted murder, battery against a public safety official and auto theft, and Indiana State Police continue to investigate while local officials review hospital security and first-responder safety procedures.