Early Tuesday in Hammond, Indiana, a traffic stop just east of the Illinois-Indiana border escalated into a shootout. Aaron Barnes, 34, was fatally shot at the scene, and an Indiana state trooper was wounded in the chest but expected to recover.
A routine traffic stop on Interstate 80/94 became a violent fight for control in the early hours of Tuesday morning, leaving a motorist dead and an Indiana state trooper fighting to recover.
Just after midnight. the trooper and additional officers—two Lake County deputies and a Hammond police officer—assisted in stopping a gray Hyundai Elantra for a “minor violation” just east of the Illinois-Indiana state border. Indiana state police said. The confrontation quickly turned into a shootout between the Elantra driver and the officers.
Aaron Barnes, 34, from Gary, Indiana, died at the scene after being shot, state police said.
The trooper, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, was shot in the chest. He was taken to an area hospital and then transferred to the University of Chicago Medical Center for surgery. officials said. His condition was stabilized, and he was expected to make a full recovery. No other officers were injured.
The trooper is a canine officer and has been with the agency for eight years, officials said.
A 34-year-old woman who was a passenger in the Elantra was arrested, though officials did not immediately release further details.
The sequence left little room for doubt about what happened on the roadway: a stop for a minor violation escalated in seconds into gunfire, and the aftermath was measured in a fatality, a wounded officer, and emergency treatment that continued beyond Indiana lines.
Hammond Indiana Interstate 80/94 traffic stop shootout Indiana state trooper Aaron Barnes Gary Indiana Lake County deputies bulletproof vest University of Chicago Medical Center