Police in Indianapolis shot and wounded an armed homeowner who was trying to protect his wife from a carjacker.
Officers were called shortly after 4:30 a.m. to a robbery call at a home in the Warren Woods neighborhood, reported the Indianapolis Star.
The homeowner opened his garage door when officers arrived, and they found him standing inside armed with a gun.
Police shot the man at least once in the midsection, believing he was the robbery suspect.
They soon realized their error, after initially reporting the suspect had been shot, and the man remains in serious condition at an area hospital.
Police learned the homeowner's wife had arrived home from a work a short time earlier and was held up at gunpoint by a robber who then took her car keys.
The robber was unable to start the car and then fled on foot, but not before the couple reported the attempted carjacking.
The suspect remains at large.
Other residents of the neighborhood, which is 59 percent black according to U.S. Census records, said the shooting was outrageous.
"I think that's really crazy," said resident Angela Parrott, who has lived in the neighborhood for about a year. "What do we have, trigger-happy police officers out here now?"
The homeowner's name has not yet been released, and police said the shooting remains under investigation and will be presented before a grand jury.
"Our prayers and thoughts are with him and the rest of the family," said Randal Taylor, the assistant chief of investigations for Indianapolis police. "Just an unfortunate occurrence."
