INDIANAPOLIS -- Community activists plan to begin writing chalk messages every four hours outside the City-County Building on Friday in an effort to push IMPD to fire the two officers involved in the fatal shooting of Aaron Bailey.
Bailey, 45, was shot and killed by Indianapolis police on June 29 after fleeing from police and then crashing into a tree.
The officers reportedly fired 11 times into the rear of Bailey’s vehicle – striking him four times.
The names of the officers – Carlton Howard and Michael Dinnsen – were not released until Bailey’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit last week against IMPD and the city of Indianapolis.
MORE | Family of Aaron Bailey sues Indianapolis, IMPD, officers involved in shooting
In response to the shooting, the community activist organization DON’T SLEEP has been on the forefront of calling for city officials to release more information about the shooting, assign as special prosecutor in the case and to fire the two officers responsible.
In August, Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry announced that he had requested St. Joseph County Prosecutor Kenneth P. Cotter act as special prosecutor in the case.
Curry said the decision was made not based on a “tally of public opinion,” but due to concerns that prosecuting both the Bailey shooting and the fatal shooting of Southport Police Lt. Aaron Allan at the same time would raise questions of his office’s ability to be impartial.
MORE | Special prosecutor named in Aaron Bailey case
Mayor Joe Hogsett applauded the decision, saying he hoped the ongoing investigation would be completed “both responsibly and expeditiously.”
Satchuel Cole, vice president of DON’T SLEEP, said activists have been calling Cotter’s office regularly to ask for no grand jury in the case, and for the officers to be indicted on homicide charges. But the organization isn’t content to simply focus on the criminal case, Cole said, even though the full circumstances of the shooting haven’t been released.
“What we do know is enough to fire those officers,” Cole said. “What we do know is Aaron Bailey was pulled over for nine minutes. For nine minutes they didn’t think he had a weapon in the car. For nine minutes they didn’t fear for their lives. Then 60 seconds later he was crashed into a tree and they were firing 11 shots into the back of his vehicle, risking his passenger’s life. They didn’t even know if he was alive at that point.”
In an effort to pressure IMPD Chief Bryan Roach to fire the officers, Cole said DON’T SLEEP will begin a sidewalk-chalking campaign on Friday afternoon. The plan is for volunteers to chalk messages calling for the officers’ termination outside of the City-County Building every four hours until there’s a resolution in the case.
“It’s a visual reminder to IMPD every day that Aaron Bailey lies dead because of their inaction,” Cole said. “Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, if it takes us years, we will do this for years.”
While there is no timetable for a decision in the criminal investigation into Aaron Bailey’s shooting, his family hopes the civil lawsuit will produce answers more quickly.
“Special prosecutor Cotter has kept us informed on the progress of his investigation, but we’ve received nothing yet about the evidence collected or his findings," the Bailey family's attorney, Craig Karpe, said last week. "The materials we’ve gathered to date show no legal reason or justification for the shooting of Aaron Bailey. The complaint marks the next stage in our effort to discover the truth about this tragic event. The Bailey family remains resolved to get justice for their dead brother."
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