Buttigieg in thick of fatal police shooting
Handling of case offers pluses, minuses for run
INDIANAPOLIS — Thefatal shooting of a black man by a police officer in the Indiana city where Pete Buttigieg is mayor presents both political peril for a presidential candidate who has struggled to connect with minority voters and an opportunity to show leadership on issues of race and policing.
On Monday, Buttigieg canceled several days of campaign events after returning to South Bend, where he spent the day meeting with community members and faith leaders following the shooting of 54-year-old Eric Jack Logan.
Logan died after being shot once in the abdomen from the front by a white officer who responded to a call about a suspicious person going through cars about 3:30 a.m. Sunday, St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter said Monday.
Sgt. Ryan O’neill spotted the man, later identified as Logan, leaning inside a car, Cotter said. When O’neill confronted him, Logan allegedly approached the officer with a 6- to 8-inch long knife raised over his head. That’s when Cotter said the officer fired twice, with the other shot hitting a car door.
In a matter of months, Buttigieg has gone from a relatively obscure 37-year-old mayor to the top tier of a crowded Democratic presidential field.
Asked by a reporter how the shooting might affect his presidential bid, Buttigieg declined to answer, saying, “Right now I’m here as mayor.”
The white mayor has had a sometimes-tense relationship with the black community dating back to his first term in office, when he fired the city’s first black police chief.
He has also faced criticism for his handling of police misconduct cases, including a case involving an officer who was twice disciplined for civil rights violations but not fired, and for not having a police department that reflects South Bend’s diversity.