Community reacts to deadly police-involved shooting in Elkhart

 

ELKHART, Ind -- Local stores shut down for hours due the investigation in Elkhart after a police-involved shooting.

The parking lot of the shopping plaza tapped off early this afternoon causing quite the stir in the community, as members noticed stores shut down and the crime scene.

"I was here at 9 o’clock and basically the whole complex was taped off like you see," Rent-A-Center employee Gerad Scott

People who live and work near where the fatal police-involved shooting happened say they pulled up this morning looking to shop or clock into work.

Not expecting to see a crime scene.

"When I came out here this morning it was not too long ago and what i saw is a bunch of squad cars. So I was thinking about going into the department stores and i just stopped to see what was going on," said Resident Terry Stewart.

After living here for over eight years one resident says it’s hard to believe considering his memory of what he’s seen over the years.

"I don’t see any problems in this area at all. Period. I don’t see anybody breaking the law. I don’t see anybody being police out here trying to get people for robbing the bank or stealing things throughout here. I don’t see any altercations. Nothing like that.," said Stewart.

"This is a community area so we see a lot of family’s and we have our regular customers but yea definitely always felt safe. Never felt in fear. We travel to customers homes on the daily basis and it’s definitely never been an issue," said Scott.

Even though the community knows what took place early this morning local shops are presumed to be safe by store employees and they hope that customers feel the same.

"This business has been here for over 20 years and I don’t think there’s ever been an instance like this and it happened in the early hours of the morning too. So it wasn’t like a busy time for us so hopefully they would still feel safe to shop in the complex," said Scott.