There have been three IMPD officers attacked and injured on the job in the last week, according to the department, as the city works to get a handle on recent high-profile shootings.

Tuesday, an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer was shot three times while trying to arrest the driver of a stolen car.

The shooting ended with two suspects under arrest, both now charged, another suspect in the hospital in critical condition, and a fourth suspect still on the run. The officer, a four-year veteran of IMPD, left the hospital on Wednesday, surrounded by a crowd of cheering police.

Tuesday’s shooting happened in the Haughville neighborhood at an apartment complex just down the road from Pastor Dwight Harwell’s church, Latter House Ministries.

Haughville is an area where there’ve been multiple public efforts to build the relationship between police and the public. IMPD recruits helped paint over graffiti in the spring, and officers joined a show of unity when neighbors faced rampant vandalism.

IMPD has not identified the officer shot. He’s on administrative leave, pending a review of the shootout. Later Tuesday evening, IMPD said an officer broke their fibula while arresting a man for assault, marking the third line-of-duty injury in a week.

Anyone with information on the other suspect or about the shooting was asked to contact Sgt. Brian Lambert at the IMPD Homicide Office at 317-327-3475.

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An initiative aimed at improving the quality of life in the city’s Black communities is entering its final phase.

The Indianapolis Urban League and the African American Coalition of Indianapolis hope to bring millions in funding to local nonprofits, with $29 million is available to support programs aimed at improving the lives of Black residents across the city.

Applications are due by Aug. 11.

Tony Mason, president of the Urban League, is a co-director of the Indianapolis African American Quality of Life Initiative, “It’s about empowering communities and changing lives, so that’s what we’re doing through the IAAQLI.”

The initiative launched in 2022 with a $100 million grant from Lilly Endowment.

Mason said, “A third of African American families here in metropolitan Indianapolis are either poor or working poor. We have to put the opportunities and resources in place, to hopefully bring those families forward.”

So far, more than 150 local groups have received support for projects in education, health, housing, arts and culture, leadership and civic engagements, and Black-owned business development to prevent further gaps in the community. Willis Bright, chairman of the African American Coalition of Indianapolis, is the a co-director of the initiative. “From the need for individuals to have employment with a living wage, to a house that meets code, to children that can learn about their history through community centers, etc.”

The $29 million in new funding is available to eligible nonprofits. After funding goes out to this year’s recipients, the organizations plans to evaluate the impact the initiative has had on the Black community. Bright said, “They can let us know that it has had meaning that, it has improved quality of life, that there are more people who’ve been able to receive employment, better housing and other indices that suggest it has been a successful venture.”

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The wait is over! The Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration kicks off Friday!

About 88,000 people are expected for the 20-day event, organizers say.

The annual celebration of Black excellence in arts, entertainment, culture, an community begins Friday evening with an Ecumenical Service.

Other highlights include the IBE Film Festival, a Cultural Pavilion, a multi-day business conference, a health fair, the Music Heritage Festival Outdoor Concert on July 18 and the annual All-White Affair on July 19.

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