Police shoot nude IU student firing gun

Officers from the Bloomington Police Department confronted and shot a nude IU student who was discharging rounds from a firearm into the rear of a residence north of the IU campus early Friday.

When police arrived at the scene at about 7 a.m. in the 300 block of East 15th Street, the man, later identified as Corey J. Hamersley, 21, was ordered to drop the weapon but continued waving the firearm around, according to a release by BPD Cpt. Joe Qualters.

“The first officer to arrive observed him fire into the air and fire multiple rounds into the back door of a residence,” Qualters said in a release issued Friday evening. “The suspect ignored commands by the officer to drop the weapon and shot at the officer on two separate occasions. The officer did not return fire due to the house being in the background and the need to retreat to adequate cover from the gunfire directed at her.”

The suspect then began walking down an alley toward East 15th Street, according to police, where another officer observed him with a firearm. The officer then shot the suspect, causing him to fall to the ground.

Hamersley then sat up, still wielding the firearm. He eventually stood and allegedly pointed the gun “directly at the officer,” according to the release by Qualters.

A third officer then shot Hamersley a second time. Again, Hamersley went down. Police secured his weapon and took him into custody “after a
brief struggle.”

Hamersley was shot in both of his legs and, according to police, does not suffer from life-threatening injuries.

Hamersley was transported to IU Health Bloomington Hospital and will undergo surgery for gunshot wounds. No officers or bystanders were shot during the altercation.

At the scene, police recovered 32 shell casings from a Ruger 9mm semi-automatic handgun. Police fired five rounds, according to the release. Casings from police guns were also recovered.

Initial damages to three vehicles and the back door of the residence have been reported.

IUPD officers also responded to the scene but did not fire shots at Hamersley, according to an IU press release.

Mark Land, associate vice president of university communications, confirmed that Hamersley is an IU student.

IU sophomore Justin Dunn, who lives in a house on the corner of 15th and North Lincoln streets, said he watched from his bedroom window as police shot the suspect. The police, he said, were about 20 or 30 feet away from his house when they shot the suspect.

“I was sleeping, and my roommate came into my room and said, ‘Hey man, you’ve got to wake up,’” Dunn said. “I woke up to the sound of gun fire. I was a little tired and didn’t really get it, but I opened my bedroom window, I pulled the blinds open and was looking at the street, and there was just a cop shooting at a gentleman.”

Dunn said that if the shooter had fired rounds “four degrees to his right,” the rounds would have been aimed at Dunn’s bedroom window.

“When I first looked out I was a little nervous, but I wasn’t really shook up by that,” Dunn said. “Technically, my life was in danger at that point because a stray bullet could have hit me, but I didn’t really think that was something that was going to happen.”

Dunn said paramedics arrived and hauled the Hamersley away from the scene only a few minutes after officers shot had shot him.

The incident remains under investigation with pending criminal charges against Hamersley to be determined following review and consultation with the Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office.

The two officers involved in the shooting are currently on administrative leave until an internal investigation is completed, according to the release.

“I’m glad that no one else except the criminal got hurt,” Dunn said. “It looks like he’ll be able to make a recovery and be prosecuted, which is better, I think, than him being shot and killed.”