Ball State University officials announced Tuesday that rookie officer Robert Duplain was not out of line when he shot and killed a 21-year-old student.
After completing an internal investigation, university officials found that the actions of Duplain during the Nov. 8 fatal shooting of fourth-year student Michael McKinney were in line with the police department's rules.
"The review of the incident internally was thorough," Douglas McConkey, vice president for student affairs, said. "(Duplain) did follow standard police departmental procedures."
McConkey said Gene Burton, director of public safety, reviewed all university and Muncie Police Department reports, interviewed non-university witnesses and eyewitnesses in the shooting. Duplain was also interviewed, McConkey said.
When the shooting occurred, Duplain was responding to a 911 call from a near-campus home, where a woman said a man was banging on her back door. When the officer arrived at the home, an intoxicated McKinney charged at him; Duplain then shot the student four times.
Duplain had not yet attended the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy, and he was not trained to use non-lethal weapons such as mace or pepper spray.
However, McConkey said all of the university's officers are trained with the use of any available non-lethal weapons, such as batons. He said
Duplain had a baton on him when the shooting took place.
"Duplain didn't have time to ready himself to use the baton," McConkey said. "He did have a non-lethal weapon at his disposal, but in this circumstance the use of a baton was not practical," he said.
A grand jury last month also decided to not press criminal charges against Duplain for the shooting.
Tim McKinney, Michael McKinney's father, said both the grand jury and the university are unjust in not holding Duplain responsible for killing his son.
"Do you think it's fair that a person who is unarmed is shot four times?" Tim McKinney asked. "I don't see how someone could commit that act and not be held accountable."
Tim McKinney said most law enforcement officers are trained to use intervening steps, from confronting a person to pulling a weapon; however, he said Duplain failed to follow these steps.
"They put an officer on the street whose personality and lack of training caused him to not use good judgment; he killed my son," Tim McKinney said.
While he is contemplating litigation for the shooting, Tim McKinney said the subject of the litigation "remains to be seen."
John Kautzman, Duplain's attorney, said the officer is sympathetic to the McKinney family for the loss of their brother and son; however, he said he is pleased with his client's exoneration.
"It's a tragic situation when someone's life is taken," Kautzman said. "But we simply believe that the evidence showed Duplain acted appropriately under the circumstances," he said.
Kautzman, who said he has represented hundreds if not thousands of police officers for several years, said it is impossible for the average citizen to understand the situations police officers face on a given night.
"I ask the public that they have an open mind," Kautzman said. "The grand jury and university officials did a very extensive review of this case."
McConkey said the university has already made changes to some of its police training policies. For example, rookie officers will no longer patrol alone, he said.
When Duplain completes his 15 weeks of training at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy, he will return to Ball State but will have a non-patrol position.
"We are constantly in the process of reviewing police departmental policies and procedures," McConkey said. "We don't have any immediate changes in mind specifically, but we want to help students understand what is being done to help them be safe."
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