2 men wanted after Hammond gunfight

Two men are wanted in connection with a Sept. 4 Hammond gunfight.

Charles “Chuckie” Wilson III, 23, of Gary, was charged with operating a loaded machine gun, possession of a machine gun and carrying a handgun without a license.

Amir Muhammad, of Merrillville, was charged with carrying a handgun as a convicted felon, according to court records. Both are at large and ordered to be held without bail.

Hammond Police were called at 1:46 p.m. to the scene of an accident off Kennedy Avenue and Michigan Street, where a gunfight appeared to break out, according to an affidavit. Witnesses said someone was shooting from a black car that had been chasing a gray Mercury Grand Marquis going west on the Michigan Street service road.

The latter car crashed into a bridge. Patrolmen found the Mercury abandoned with the back glass and side window shot.

The witnesses said two men got out of the Mercury, when the black car caught up and resumed shooting, according to the affidavit. The men jumped back into the Mercury, then got out and resumed shooting at the black car when it drove off.

Both men ran into a nearby business, with one cradling his arm.

Police found 17 spent shell casings and two bullet jackets at the scene.

Shortly after the incident, the Grand Marquis’ owner called police to say it was recently stolen.

A patrol officer spotted two men matching Wilson and Muhammed’s descriptions walking north on the 3900 block of Michigan Avenue. Wilson said he had just been shot in Gary.

The officer offered to give them a ride but said both men were “nervous” when he said he would need to search them first. He found a stolen handgun in Muhammad’s bag and a Glock handgun with an attachment that let it fire like a machine gun in Wilson’s bag.

Murder charges were dismissed against Wilson in 2019, accused by two cousins of fatally shooting a 19-year-old man during a gun sale.