Sergeant involved in fatal South Bend shooting resigns from police

The South Bend police officer involved in the shooting that killed an African American man and outraged an Indiana community has resigned. Sergeant Ryan O’Neill fatally shot 54-year-old Eric Logan on June 16. 

O’Neill is currently the subject of a special prosecutor investigation and a civil lawsuit, a CBS News Indiana affiliate reported. South Bend Police confirmed the resignation on Twitter. 

Logan, an African American man, was shot by O’Neill, a white police officer, an event that drew outrage from community members who have called for transparency and accountability. According to the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office, Logan was holding a knife as he approached an officer responding to a report of someone breaking into cars. O’Neill told authorities he fired his weapon after Logan refused orders to drop the knife. O’Neill was not wearing a body camera. 

“Sgt. O’Neill did his job and was forced to defend his own life from a convicted felon who was armed with an eight-inch hunting knife,” said Harvey Mills, South Bend Fraternal Order of Police President, in a statement on Monday. “We’re confident that the investigation into the shooting will determine that the action he took was justified based on the law and his training; however, job related stress, the lawsuit, national media attention, and hateful things said on social media have been difficult for O’Neill and his young family.”

South Bend has been shaken by the June 16 shooting. Logan’s death sparked protests in South Bend Indiana. It also led to a tense town hall between South Bend Mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and his constituents. Buttigieg said he would reaffirm the South Bend Police Department’s policy on body cameras.