This article was updated to add new information.
Before three teenagers were injured in a shootout with police, De’Aundre C. Hart was fatally shot in the chest.
Hart’s shooting before 3:05 p.m., Feb. 21, 2026, launched an investigation on the east side of Indianapolis that would land three teenagers in the hospital and a 21-year-old man detained following a police shootout.
“Something has got to give,” Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Tanya Terry said in a news conference following the police shooting. “We’re talking about teenagers here. Families, members of our community, you have got to get involved in these teenagers’ lives.”
Two 16-year-old boys and a 17-year-old boy were taken into custody in connection with the investigation. One of the 16-year-olds was charged as an adult with dangerous possession of a firearm and criminal recklessness. In a probable cause affidavit for the teen, investigators said they found three firearms inside the vehicle.
“These teenagers have guns, and they’re shooting at officers. They’re shooting at community members,” Terry said.
Court docs: Police were following up on a homicide
The community member in this case was 18-year-old Hart, police believe. Who pulled the trigger in the 1400 block of North Webster Avenue, where Hart was found shot, remains publicly unknown.
The Marion County Coroner’s Office said his cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest. He died shortly after arriving at Eskenazi Hospital.
Detective Daniel Hiatt was assigned to the case that afternoon and was able to determine the location of people possibly involved with Hart’s killing. Seven hours later, the police department’s Violent Crimes Unit saw the suspects leaving a home in the 3400 block of North Wallace Street, nearly 4 miles from the homicide.
They were in a silver 2014 Ford Escape, and officers followed them in an unmarked car before SWAT joined them.
When they reached 10930 E. 10th St. just before 10 p.m., SWAT deployed a Grappler’s net at the Ford Escape.
According to court documents, the Grappler’s camera showed a person’s hand on the passenger’s side of the car coming out of an open window with a firearm. Ten shots were fired toward officers, the documents said, and video also captured the driver’s side door open with a flash appearing.
SWAT team member and 8-year veteran Officer William McInerney returned fire at the vehicle, which officers were able to block in shortly after the gunfire.
The driver and two of the teens were taken into custody immediately, but a 16-year-old boy in the back seat refused to listen to the officer’s commands, according to court documents that said he “…reached down toward the front of his pants and was ordered not to reach again.”
Despite the warning, court documents said he reached for his waist, behind his right side and officers fired less-lethal rounds at him. The teen ran from the officers and was later tased before being taken into custody.
The 17-year-old was shot in the stomach and taken to Eskenazi Hospital in stable condition. While getting medical treatment a machine gun conversion device, often called a Glock switch, fell out of his clothing, court records state.
When a search warrant was granted for the vehicle, a 9mm pistol with no serial number was found on the floor where he was seated, police said.
The 16-year-old front passenger was shot in his hand and taken to Eskenazi Hospital in stable condition.
While being treated, an officer said he heard the teen say to a nurse he shot first, but didn’t know it was the police and that he “busted back.”
The only window down in the vehicle, according to a probable cause for his arrest, was the one where the 16-year-old was sitting.
A Glock 9 mm Model 19X with a serial number and an AR pistol with no serial number or manufacturer name was initally found between the front seats.
Jade Jackson is a Public Safety Reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Court docs link teens shot by police to Indianapolis homicide
Reporting by Jade Jackson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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