LAWRENCE, Ind. — A suspect is now in jail two months after a late-night shooting left a man critically injured in Lawrence. Police believe the shooting started with road rage and ended with bullets flying into a neighborhood.
The injured victim was left in the street near the intersection of East 63rd Street and Harrison Ridge Boulevard around 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 13.
“I didn’t hear the gunshot,” said area resident Jameel Calhoun. “I only heard the glass break.”
That’s why Calhoun didn’t think much of the noise until hours later when neighbors filled him in, and he realized the broken glass was his entryway window.
“I lived in a worse area before this and nothing like this happened,” Calhoun said.
Though Calhoun’s window is fixed, a bullet remains lodged in a wall near his young daughter’s bedroom.
“Kind-of shocked, I have two little girls,” Calhoun said. “I’m here to protect my family. It’s kind-of difficult to think about when you see a bullet come through your window.”
Since September, Calhoun and his neighbors have wondered what led to a man being shot in the head so close to their homes. With a suspect finally in custody, 65-year-old Ronald Gilbert Jr., Lawrence police now believe the shooting stemmed from a road rage incident that happened the same night as the shooting.
Court documents map out how detectives used Flock cameras, surveillance video and witnesses to track Gilbert down. One witness said he saw the victim’s truck speed up and cut in front of the suspect’s Corvette just minutes before the shooting was reported. Various security cameras also captured the cars going the same direction along the way.
Map of Ronald Gilbert Jr.’s route according to Onstar and cell phone data, which was included in the probable cause affidavit.
Police reported that the scene suggested the victim “pulled over quickly” and exited his vehicle before he was shot, as his truck was still running when a bystander stopped to help him. That bystander said, when he noticed the head wound, he grabbed a towel to apply pressure until police arrived. According to the probable cause affidavit, when the victim arrived at the hospital, he was “coding.” Medical staff were able to get a response from him moments later. They then rushed him in for surgery on his brain.
Documents indicate doorbell camera video shows Gilbert coming home in his Corvette, carrying a handgun. Police matched shell casings from the scene to live rounds found in Gilbert’s house. Investigators also discovered that Gilbert read a article about the crime on his phone the next day.
