SHUT DOWN

According to department spokesman Genae Cook, the IMPD was pursuing a lead into a domestic murder in which four people were killed.

Indianapolis Star

A man wanted on interrogation in connection with a Saturday night murder that killed four people was found and taken into custody Sunday night, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said.

According to IMPD spokesman Genae Cook, police followed up a lead on the whereabouts of 25-year-old Malik Halfacre at around 2 p.m. on Sunday at a house on the 6200 block of Eastridge Drive near Arlington Avenue and 10th Street.

After several hours of attempting to lure Halfacre outside, including the use of tear gas, an IMPD SWAT team entered the house. Halfacre was found in the attic and taken out of the house without incident, Cook said. He has been taken into custody and will meet with homicide detectors who will continue the investigation.

Malik Halfacre was detained Sunday afternoon in connection with a quadruple murder and took a 6-month-old baby off the scene. (Photo: IMPD)

“I just ran to you”

Officers found Halfacre on the east side of a maisonette. Carla Stanciel lives on the west side of the maisonette.

“It was very scary. It was a scary thing,” she told IndyStar shortly after IMPD announced it would take Halfacre into custody. “The nerves are nervous. I’m nervous.”

What we know:About the murders

She was home early Sunday afternoon when her neighbor called and said she saw the police outside the house. When she went to the door to see what was going on, the police asked her to come over to them. She quickly put on shoes.

“They told me to run to them, so I just ran to them,” said Stanciel. “I didn’t know who was going on. I didn’t know anything about what was going on last night or none of it.”

Buy photo

Indianapolis Police found Malik Halfacre on the east side of this maisonette on the 6200 block of Eastridge Drive. (Photo: Mykal McEldowney / IndyStar)

“I just didn’t know anything,” she said.

After she was taken away by the police, she waited outside all day while the SWAT situation continued. IMPD told her that she probably won’t be able to return to her house until midnight. She hopes the damage isn’t bad.

“It’s just a lot of smoke damage from the gas,” she said.

The murders

The search for Halfacre began about 21 hours earlier when police responded to a report from a person who was shot dead on the 250 block on North Randolph Street, about 4 miles from where he was eventually found.

Officers found a woman with a gunshot wound and led her to a multi-unit house about a block north, where police found four dead, including a child.

“The city is sick”:Another mass murder kills Indianapolis

The woman was taken to the hospital and was in stable condition. Cook said she was cooperating with investigators.

The coroner’s office had not released the victims’ identities by early Sunday evening, although IMPD’s Cook said there was reason to believe the victims were linked to Halfacre. Cook declined to provide details until the coroner released the identities.

The police believe the violence was domestic in nature.

Malia Halfacre, a 6 month old girl, was taken out of the house by Malik Halfacre, police said. Authorities issued an amber alert and Malia was found safe early Sunday morning. Cook declined to provide new details about the child’s status or location.

Buy photo

Indianapolis police lock up after the SWAT incident. (Photo: Mykal McEldowney / IndyStar)

Police found a Chevy Impala allegedly connected to Halfacre overnight, but Cook did not provide details of how it was recovered. She also declined to provide details on why police identified Halfacre as a suspect.

IMPD turned their attention to the house on Eastridge Drive around 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Cook said Halfacre did not live in the apartment and detectives were still trying to establish his connection with the homeowners.

She said SWAT officers waited more than three hours for Halfacre to come out and worked to communicate with him before using gasoline around the house.

Buy photo

After a quadruple homicide investigation, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department searched a house on the 6200 block of Eastridge Drive on Sunday afternoon. Spokesman Genae Cook said officers could track down a suspect, Malik Halfacre, in the apartment near Arlington Avenue and 10th Street. (Photo: Mykal McEldowney / IndyStar)

Cook said he did not ask for medical care after leaving the house.

The IMPD spokesman thanked the public for providing tips and said detectives had been working on the case all night, some with no sleep.

“We have a suspect in custody over something that was terrible,” Cook said. “This was a terrible incident and at no point did we want this to continue.”

The coverage of IndyStar reporters Natalia Contreras and Justin L. Mack contributed to this.

Contact IndyStar transportation reporter Ethan May at [email protected] or 317-402-1058. Follow him on Twitter: @EthanMayJ.

Read or share this story: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2021/03/14/indianapolis-swat-situation-related-quadruple-homicide-police-say/4695103001/