Bloomington Police Investigate Shooting
The Bloomington Police Department is investigating a shooting that occurred on the west side of the city. One victim is currently hospitalized as a result of the shooting. The investigation is ongoing, but 29 year-old Victor C. Pilot-Coleman, Jr of Bloomington has been arrested and preliminarily charged with Attempted Murder, level 1 felony, Criminal Recklessness with a Deadly Weapon, level 5 felony, and Pointing a Firearm, level 6 felony.
On September 7th at approximately 5:30 p.m., officers responded to the 3400 block of W Third Street in response to several 911 calls about a shooting in the parking lot near Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers. While officers were en route, Central Emergency Dispatch received information that a victim had been loaded into a passenger car, which had fled from the area. Upon the arrival of officers, witnesses stated that the suspect had fled around the west end of a nearby strip mall and was last seen running southbound along the western edge of Joann Fabrics and Crafts. Officers immediately began checking behind the business and located the suspect inside a dumpster behind the store. The suspect, later identified as Victor Pilot-Coleman, was taken into custody without further incident. It should be noted that officers had the suspect in custody within nine minutes of the first 911 call being received by Central Emergency Dispatch. Investigators interviewed several witnesses and viewed footage from multiple nearby surveillance cameras and were able to determine the following:
At approximately 5:25 p.m., the 21 year-old male victim was in the driver’s seat of a passenger car in the drive-thru of Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers along with an acquaintance. While sitting in the drive-thru, Pilot-Coleman approached the victim’s vehicle on foot with a handgun in plain view. The victim and the acquaintance then attempted to exit the vehicle through the front passenger door. As the victim began running southbound in the nearby parking lot, Pilot-Coleman chased him and began shooting multiple times. The acquaintance then climbed into the driver’s seat of the victim’s vehicle and began chasing Pilot-Coleman through the parking lot, eventually striking Pilot-Coleman with the vehicle. This caused Pilot-Coleman to drop the handgun that he had been firing.
Pilot-Coleman then began running towards Joann Fabric and Crafts and the acquaintance picked up the handgun and fired at Pilot-Coleman. However, Pilot-Coleman was not struck. The acquaintance then drove the victim’s vehicle to where the victim had collapsed in the parking lot and loaded the victim into the back seat of the vehicle prior to fleeing from the area. As the acquaintance was driving away from the scene, he called 911 and met officers and ambulance personnel at a residence in the 100 block of S Curry Pike. The victim suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was transported by ambulance to the IU Health Bloomington Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. As of the afternoon of September 8th, the victim remains hospitalized but his condition is unknown.
A window of A Total Tan was damaged by a bullet fired at some point during the incident. The relationship between the victim and the suspect is unknown and remains under investigation.
*** All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until, and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Bloomington’s Mayor and Police Chief issue joint statement on officer salaries
Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton and Bloomington Police Chief Michael Diekhoff have shared the following joint statement with the Bloomington Common Council regarding Resolution 21-27, a budgetary bill relating to Police Officer wages:
“[Wednesday] evening the Common Council is considering Resolution 21-27, ‘Calling for an Increase to Salaries for Members of the Police Department,’ which urges an increase in Bloomington Police Department (BPD) base pay by $5K/year beginning in 2022. We appreciate council members’ strong support of our police department and agree with much of their rationale. For instance, we all agree that a high functioning police force that enjoys high morale and the best possible working conditions, equipment and benefits is the ultimate goal. Toward those ends, the City has been working for months on retention and recruitment strategies.
We do not share quite the same ideas on how to go about achieving those ends. We need to work through these issues thoughtfully.
One thing we appear not to agree upon is where negotiations over union pay should take place. It would be unprecedented to give a raise in base pay outside the normal bargaining cycle and process. We believe, and it is in our municipal code, that the appropriate place to negotiate base pay is in regular contract negotiations, which the code provides is undertaken by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and the City administration. Normal union contract negotiations would begin in early 2022, but we appreciate the urgency and propose that negotiations begin next month.
Based on recently compiled information, we believe that Bloomington is not at the bottom of peer Indiana cities and compares more favorably when all the elements of compensation are considered and officer classifications across cities are accurately compared. This information will be provided to the Common Council at tonight’s meeting.
It is important to note that any significant increase in base pay above the 2.9% increase for 2022 provided in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement will have significant, long-term budget implications and will require careful planning over time. Taxes may need to be raised, alternative revenue sources identified, or cost-cutting measures implemented.
Until we have a negotiated agreement, we propose the use of one-time America Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds in the increased amount of at least $500,000 to address retention of our current excellent BPD employees and recruitment of similarly highly qualified and trained staff to join our force.
We want to support our BPD officers at every level and are grateful for their exceptional service, especially during these particularly difficult times in our community and our world. We look forward to working with the Council on how to address these crucial issues.”
Mitchell Woman Arrested for Possession of Child Pornography
28 year-old Leslie Nikole Winkler, of Mitchell, has been arrested on five counts of Possession of Child Pornography and one count of False Informing. The investigation began on August 24, 2021, when Trooper Whyte and Detective Kevin Getz of the Internet Crimes against Children (ICAC) Taskforce served search warrants at the home of Winkler and her husband Brennan D. Winkler in Mitchell. It was then that her husband, Brennan Winkler, 26 years old, was arrested for Child Exploitation, Possession of Child Pornography, Possession of Methamphetamine and, Possession of Paraphernalia. Further evidence seized by Trooper Whyte while serving the search warrants led to an arrest warrant being issued out of the Lawrence County Superior Court II by the Honorable Bob Cline.
*** All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until, and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Lake Central HS locked down after false threat of ‘active shooter’
Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana went on lock down yesterday after reports of an active shooter. St. John Police were joined by many other officers from the region shortly after 10am, when the call took place. After a sweep of the facilities, it was determined that the claims were false, and no shots had been fired. Two students were questioned regarding the false claims, being brought in by Officers.
Bloomington High School North recently experienced a similar threat immediately preceding a football game, when a 12 year-old child from Bedford admittedly texted a threat into 911. Several emergency personnel had responded to the stadium to find that there was no incident. The boy said he did it to impress his friends. The charge of False Informing has been turned over to Juvenile Court.