A University Police officer with seven months of experience shotand killed a Ball State student early Saturday morning.
Michael S. McKinney, 21, a fourth-year student, was pronounceddead on arrival at Ball Memorial Hospital, Terry Winters, deputychief of Muncie Police, said.
The officer who shot him, Robert Duplain, 24, is now onadministrative leave, University Police Chief Gene Burton said.Burton said UPD is conducting an internal investigation todetermine if Duplain acted appropriately, and the Muncie PoliceDepartment is handling the criminal aspect of the investigation. Notimetable has been set for completion of the investigations.
Winters said UPD officers responded to a report of a burglary at1325 North St. early Saturday morning. He said Duplain foundMcKinney in the backyard and yelled for him to freeze. McKinney rantoward the officer with his arms out and wouldn't stop, so Duplainopened fire. Burton said Duplain had identified himself as a policeofficer.
Burton did not say how many shots were fired or how many timesMcKinney had been shot, pending the results of this weekend'sautopsy. Witnesses say they heard three or four shots.
Burton said this is Duplain's first law-enforcement job. HeatherShupp, executive director of University Communications, saidDuplain has completed a 40-hour pre-basic-training course. Thatincludes 24 hours of classroom instruction, eight hours of firearmtraining and eight hours of physical defensive tactics. Duplain hasalso completed 14 hours of field training. He is planning to beginattending a police academy in January. Shupp said it is common foryoung officers to begin work before attending the policeacademy.
Duplain did not return messages seeking comment.
McKinney's friends gathered together Saturday night and watchedthe TV news reports. Rich Lentz, McKinney's Delta Chi fraternitybrother, said he and others were offended by reports that McKinney-- who Lentz said was about 5-foot-7 -- was aggressive toward theofficer.
"That doesn't sound like Mike McKinney," Lentz said. "I don'tbuy it. He's not an intimidating person by any means."
A suspect's intimidating manner is one of many factors that gointo a police officer's decision to use force, Burton said. He saidthe University Police's Use-of-Force Policy takes into account allsorts of variables that could come together at a crime scene.
"Any variable you could think of would be involved in that,"Burton said.
Senior Scott Clark, who has known McKinney -- a marketing major-- since McKinney was a freshman, said McKinney spent his weekendsat a house at the corner of Dicks and North streets. McKinney hadbeen out drinking Friday night in the Village, Clark said, and heand his friends believe McKinney may have been drunk enough tothink he was trying to get into his friend's house, not astranger's.
Toxicology reports will not be available for a few weeks,Winters said.
"We think it was a huge misunderstanding," Clark said.
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