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In an unsettling incident on Friday morning, an Indiana sheriff’s deputy found himself in a life-threatening situation after being shot three times in a hospital emergency room. The assailant was a motorist stranded on the road, whom the deputy had initially stopped to assist. Authorities later discovered that the individual might have been linked to an earlier crime.
Deputy Jon Samuelson, a dedicated member of the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office with 12 years of service, was urgently airlifted to South Bend Memorial Hospital following the shooting. His condition is currently critical. The suspected shooter, identified as Sharod Grafton Jr., was swiftly apprehended in a wooded area near the hospital shortly after the incident unfolded.
The chain of events began around 6:45 a.m. when 33-year-old Deputy Samuelson was en route to a training session. Spotting Grafton, a Chicago resident, stranded on State Road 2, he decided to offer assistance. The officer later transported Grafton to Franciscan Hospital in Michigan City as per the motorist’s request.
This shocking occurrence echoes the recent tragedy involving a North Carolina police officer, who was fatally shot in a separate emergency room incident. The law enforcement community remains on high alert, emphasizing the unpredictable nature of their duties.
LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office deputy Jon Samuelson was shot three times on Friday inside an Indiana hospital by Sharod Grafton, Jr., police said. (Indiana State Police)
“Once at the hospital, the officer learned that the subject may have been involved in an earlier criminal incident,” Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield told reporters. “The officer returned inside the hospital where an altercation took place in the emergency room between the suspect and himself, which resulted in the suspect producing a firearm and shooting the officer.”
Authorities did not specify the crime Grafton is allegedly connected to.
Grafton fled into a nearby wooded area but was quickly arrested, authorities said. A handgun believed to have been in his possession was found, police said.
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Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield talks to reporters about a sheriff’s deputy who was shot hours earlier inside a hospital. (WFLD)
“This is a senseless shooting that didn’t have to take place,” Fifield said. “Our officers and deputies from the La Porte County Sheriff’s Department and all over the state of Indiana and Illinois risk their lives every day. This officer thought he was helping a stranded motorist and it turned into this. So once again, he was out helping somebody and it turned into this.”
Samuelson, who is married with no children, comes from a “long lineage of law enforcement,” police said. His grandfather was the chief of police for the city of La Porte, and his father is a retired Michigan City police officer, authorities said.
The La Porte County Sheriff’s Office called the shooting an “isolated incident” and said there was no immediate threat to the public. The Indiana State Police are leading the investigation into the shooting.
Charges are pending against Grafton, who is being held in the Porter County Jail.
“La Porte County friends and neighbors, we are asking for our community to rise up, rally together, and lift Deputy Jon Samuelson and his family in prayer and support during this incredibly challenging time,” La Porte County Sheriff Sheriff Ronald Heeg.Â
The Indiana State Police is investigating the shooting of a sheriff’s deputy by a gunman inside a hospital. (Indiana State Police)
In a statement, Franciscan Health said the safety and health of its patients are always the top priority.
“The emergency department remains on ambulance bypass, but walk-in patients are being accepted through the main entrance to the hospital,” the hospital said. “Franciscan Physician Network medical offices on site are closed at this time. All other services and departments remain open as normal.”
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