An Indianapolis Police Car sits outside a Hamptons Inn in 2015. Photo: Raymond Boyd/Getty Images
An Indiana man who allegedly fatally shot a Dutch soldier and wounded two others in downtown Indianapolis was charged with murder, two counts of attempted murder and disorderly conduct, prosecutors said Thursday.
Driving the news: Shamar Duncan, 22, was arrested Tuesday and is in custody, police said. The three Dutch soldiers he allegedly shot were in Indiana for urban combat training at a nearby base.
- Simmie Poetsema, 26, was identified as the soldier who was killed.
- The victims, who were members of the Dutch Commando Corps., were shot around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday outside of a Hampton Inn in downtown Indianapolis following an altercation.
- Poetsema and two other soldiers were walking back to their hotel from a bar when Duncan and his friends bumped into them, according to the affidavit, per AP.
- The soldiers tried to defuse the situation, but a brief fight broke out before gunshots were fired from a passing pickup truck, killing Poetsema and wounding the other two, the affidavit said.
- One of the wounded soldiers has returned to the Netherlands and the other is expected to return Thursday, per AP. Both are expected to make a full recovery.
What they're saying: "We have someone who came to Indianapolis to experience the best of what our city, our state and our country has to offer," Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said at a press conference Thursday.
- "This was a joint training exercise where people were supposed to learn from each other and two people end up being seriously injured and one person lost their life," he added.