Docs: Indianapolis man shoots roommate, claims ‘self-defense’

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis man who was preliminarily charged with murder after a Wednesday afternoon shooting of his roommate on the near east side claims it was in self-defense.

According to previous reports, 53-year-old James Grossnickle reportedly shot and killed 40-year-old Craig Esmon Jacobs Wednesday afternoon in the 30 block of S. Gray Street. Grossnickle was found later that day in a vehicle on the 2800 block of E. Edgewood Ave. and taken into custody.

Around 12:55 p.m. Wednesday, officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department were called to a home on S. Gray Street on reports of a person who was shot. When officers arrived they found Jacobs, who was apparently shot in the head.

Nearly 20 minutes after officers were dispatched to the scene, a second call regarding the incident was made. Court documents filed Thursday in Marion County state a man, later identified as Grossnickle, reportedly admitted to shooting someone in the head at the Gray Street home.

Grossnickle was found in the back seat of a black 2001 Ford Explorer in the 2800 block of E. Edgewood Ave. The release said that he was taken into custody at that time.

A witness at the scene reportedly spoke to police. Two days before Jacobs’ body was found, the witness came to the house looking for Jacobs. Grossnickle, Jacobs’ roommate, reportedly answered the door at that time and told the witness that Jacobs was in his room.

“[Grossnickle] advised [the witness] not to go back there because [Jacobs] was b—– and was in a bad mood,” the documents said. “[Grossnickle] said he got into an argument with [Jacobs], and then [Grossnickle] started rumbling and made statements to the extent of ‘Em a crazy motherf—–, I’ll shoot you in the head and I’ll send a bag with body parts to your family.”

On Wednesday, the witness returned to the house. After seeing that Jacobs’ vehicle was not in the driveway, the witness called Jacobs’ girlfriend, who told him a welfare check should be requested.

A second witness reportedly went inside the house and saw that Jacobs was dead inside the house, the documents said.

An additional witness said that they reportedly had a conversation with Grossnickle after the shooting. The additional witness and Grossnickle were reportedly talking about improvements being made to a kitchen when Grossnickle began to talk about having to “wrestle” a knife away from another man.

Grossnickle reportedly told the additional witness that the man he wrestled the knife away from pulled a gun out of his back pocket and acted like he was going to shoot Grossnickle, which caused Grossnickle to shoot the man. When asked why Grossnickle did not call the police, he replied that “he was scared and left.”

In an interview with Grossnickle, the court documents said that the “entire house was a crime scene,” claiming that “this dude” was “killing people and keeping trophies.”

“He then said that dude tried to blow my head off, he tried to stab me a couple of days before and he said he fought the little switchblade knife away, which is now inside the truck with a few marijuana leaves on it,” the court documents said. “[Grossnickle] was asked who he was talking about, but he did not provide a name.”

In his recount of the incident, Grossnickle claimed that Jacobs rolled over on his bed and attempted to get his gun out of his back pocket. This was when Grossnickle reportedly shot Jacobs.

When police searched the Ford Explorer that Grossnickle was found in, officials said that they reportedly found a firearm, loose bullets, and a slide and barrel for a .45 semi-automatic.

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