Muncie Deputy Police Chief Melissa Criswell heads the investigation into the early Sunday morning shooting.
(Stephanie Wiechmann / IPR News)
Muncie police have announced the arrest of a suspect in a weekend shooting that killed one person and injured 18. But he is not currently being charged with murder.
Muncie police said 36-year-old John Vance was arrested during a Tuesday afternoon traffic stop and they were assisted by the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department, FBI, and US Marshals.
Deputy Chief Melissa Criswell said a verbal and physical altercation began the trouble at late night party with several hundred people. She named Vance’s preliminary charges at a Wednesday press conference.
“So the charges at this time for which Vance was arrested, they do not include charges related to the killing of Joseph Bonner,” she said. “The investigation into his death and the events of July 30 are still rapidly evolving and ongoing.”
Initial charges do include aggravated battery, possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, and criminal recklessness.
Arrest documents show that witnesses described a physical fight between Vance and Bonner.
Citing an ongoing investigation, Muncie police would not answer questions about whether more arrests are coming, whether Vance was the only shooter, whether Vance was injured in the gunfire, or what types of gun or guns were used.
The Delaware County prosecutor was not available to discuss the timeline on formal charges.
At this time, Vance remains in the Delaware County jail under a $105,000 cash bond.
Large party overwhelmed police staffing levels
Deputy Chief Chris Deegan said there were 14 officers on duty the night of the party.
“We are a community that has some limited resources when it comes to a massive event like this,” he said.
With the size of the crowd and number of victims at the scene, Muncie police put out an all-call to other law enforcement agencies. Deegan said this was necessary.
“It was an ‘all hands on deck’ situation and we felt like we got that response, not only from our agency, but from the assisting agencies as well. Without those assisting agencies, I don’t know that we would have had the success rate that we did with the condition of the victims, to be honest.”
As of Wednesday, three victims are still at Indianapolis hospitals in stable condition and three are at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie in stable condition. The rest of the 18 injured have been released.
City focuses on party size that doesn’t match with permit
Officials previously said the owner of the building had gotten a city noise ordinance exemption, but only for a gathering of 75 people until 9:00 pm. Gunshots were called into Delaware County dispatch just after 1:00 am.
Chief Sloan said the department was trying to make contact with the property owner on Saturday night to shut down the large party.
“We did make an initial phone call,” he said. “We asked that that party be shut down. It was not shut down. And then we tried to call several other times, and he refused to take our call.”
At Wednesday’s press conference, Muncie Mayor Dan Ridenour reiterated that his new task force will focus on figuring out how to control large parties that become “out-of-control” and how to have police “swiftly disband unplanned mass crowds.”
A Muncie resident at the press conference reminded everyone that this weekend is the second annual city-sponsored Fire Up Downtown Festival, comparing its expected size to the weekend party of between 500 and 1,000 people. According to the Muncie Downtown Development Partnership, last year’s attendance at Fire Up Downtown was more than 11,000 people. This year, events are planned until 10:00 pm and include an after-dark fireworks show.
