ELKHART — City officials urged the public to stop spreading misinformation and be patient as multiple investigations play out on a fatal police-involved shooting and other cases.
The hour-long press conference Wednesday came on the heels of a violent weekend in the city.
The main part of the news conference in City Hall focused on the case of 17-year-old Bryan Ramirez-Gomez, who was killed in an officer-involved shooting early Sunday at High Dive Park, and a shooting on North 6th Street near West Jefferson Street that left a 14-year-old with serious injuries Monday afternoon.
Elkhart Police Chief Dan Milanese said the investigation into the incident involving Ramirez-Gomez is being carried out by the Elkhart County Homicide Unit.
“When the time comes for the details of the incident to be released, it will be done so in a transparent manner,” Milanese said. “I will do everything in my power to protect the integrity of the investigation. No matter what the results are, we need to protect the integrity of the investigation for everybody involved.”
Milanese said he has the utmost confidence in the Homicide Unit and Elkhart Police Department officers to do their jobs. He said inaccurate information has no place in an investigation of this magnitude and can actually impede the investigation. However, he would not address any specific inaccurate information that he said has been put out in the public.
The police department spoke with the Elkhart County Prosecutor’s Office, and a potential update will be announced early next week, Milanese said. He said he was asking for the public’s patience as the investigation is ongoing. He broke down each of the other investigations down for the public as well.
“We know that breaking these down, some of them are independent from the others, some may be connected, we’re still working through those investigations,” Milanese said. “So, while the investigations are ongoing, we cannot share certain details at this time, but we wanted to share with the public that we are treating each of these cases with the highest level of urgency.”
Other recent cases include a stabbing that occurred Monday near the intersection of West Bristol Street and Edwardsburg Avenue that left a man hospitalized and a shooting Sunday that left two people wounded near the intersection of East Lexington Avenue and Junior Achievement Boulevard.
Milanese said the police department is working on ways to build trust with the community, including hosting events to engage community members.
Mayor Rod Roberson said the whole spirit around what he does is unifying the city. Elkhart is one of the most resilient cities because it has a deep relationship with diversity and people in general, Roberson said. He said the thread that runs through everyone in the city, including the people involved in the incidents, is that they have friends and family members.
“It is tough to carry the load of what has occurred over the last three days for everyone that I mentioned a moment ago,” Roberson said. “But when you think about what unifies a lot of our community around these events … there’s a thread in this that runs through everybody sitting in this room in one way shape or form.”
Roberson said people really are not different from one another. The events have brought everyone together despite the unfortunate circumstances, he said.
