2020 Update

 

There are no changes in the Fort Wayne/Allen County 2020 homicide total. 

However, the status of the case of Steven A. Gibson has changed. 

Originally, the Allen County Coroner declined to do an autopsy and rule on cause and manner of death because Steven died in Marion County. 

On Wednesday, the Marion County Coroner's office, after many months, finally issued a cause and manner of death report that ruled Steven's death a homicide by gunshot. 

For some background: according to police reports, Steven A. Gibson was shot on August 13 in the 300 block of West Rudisill, was taken to a local hospital, then moved to an Indianapolis hospital, where he died on September 2.

Because Mr. Gibson died in Marion County, his death is not officially counted as an Allen County homicide by Allen County authorities.

However, we have included Steven A. Gibson’s name in our homicide victims list, so as to preserve his name so that he is not forgotten.

From Jamie Duffy’s January 8 Journal Gazette:

 

Fatal city shooting called homicide

Kendallville man died 3 weeks later at Indy hospital

JAMIE DUFFY | The Journal Gazette

The death of a man in an Indianapolis hospital after being shot in Fort Wayne has been ruled a homicide.

The Marion County coroner Wednesday ruled Steven Gibson's death Sept. 2 a homicide, one of 245 last year in Indianapolis. Gibson, 28, died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen, a Marion County coroner spokeswoman said Thursday.

The Marion County office said Gibson, from Kendallville, was taken to Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne on Aug. 13. On Aug. 18, he was flown via air ambulance to Indiana University Hospital for advanced care and died at the hospital Sept. 2.

Sgt. Tim Hughes, a Fort Wayne police detective, said the city's homicide division has been investigating the case and has identified the shooter as Samuel Freistroffer, 29. Freistroffer called 911 to report the shooting, Hughes added.

“We haven't charged him yet because he's saying he acted in self-defense,” Hughes said. “We are still investigating and will review the case with the prosecutor now.”

Allen County Deputy Coroner Christopher Meihls said Thursday that Gibson's death is “not an Allen County case. It's a Marion case. My understanding is he was shot here in Fort Wayne, taken to Indianapolis and died. It's a Marion County case with the Fort Wayne Police Department investigating.”

On the Fort Wayne Police Department's website, a release dated Aug. 13 reported the shooting that day at 10:28 p.m. in the 300 block of West Rudisill Boulevard.

The victim was suffering from an apparent gunshot wound and taken to a hospital in serious condition. A hospital physician then downgraded Gibson's condition to life-threatening, the release said.

At the time, police said there was a disturbance in an upstairs apartment before the shooting and detectives were interviewing witnesses at police headquarters.

Gibson was a CNC machinist at several northeast Indiana companies, according to an online obituary. He was survived by three daughters, six siblings and a fiancée, besides his parents.

jduffy@jg.net