18-year-old accused of reckless homicide after accidental shooting of his 16-year-old friend

INDIANAPOLIS — An 18-year-old has been arrested for reckless homicide after the deadly shooting of a 16-year-old on Tuesday.

Witnesses claim the shooting was an accident, but that didn’t stop the gunman from being booked into jail for the homicide.

According to previous reports , IMPD responded to the 4400 block of Braemar Drive at around 3 p.m. on Tuesday where they located Labissiere with a gunshot wound. Labissiere was pronounced dead at the scene and the Marion County Coroner’s Office determined the cause of death as a homicide.

According to court records, 18-year-old Jakari Bibbs was waving a gun around, dancing and posing with the weapon for pictures, when he accidentally shot his friend one time.

“Always treat every firearm as if it were loaded. A tragedy like this is 100 percent preventable,” said IMPD Officer Drew Brown.

After speaking with witnesses at the scene of the shooting and confirming their stories with cell phone videos and pictures of Bibbs messing around with the gun, the 18-year-old was arrested for reckless homicide Thursday.

Reckless homicide is the lowest type of homicide someone can commit in Indiana and the lowest level of penalty, but people should be held accountable,” said attorney Mario Massillamany.

Attorney Mario Massillamany isn’t connected to the case.

He says unlike murder, reckless homicide does not require an intent to kill.

“By taking a gun and pointing it At somebody and pulling the trigger, that can show disregard of human life or extreme negligence because he didn’t check if the gun was loaded or unloaded,” said Massillamany.

Bibbs allegedly confessed to police when he pulled the trigger he was surprised the gun went off because he thought it was unloaded.

IMPD believes the death illustrates the importance of educating kids about gun safety.

“We can’t emphasize enough that gun ownership and gun responsibility are one and the same,” said Brown.  “No life has to be lost at the hands of irresponsible firearms use.”

The department’s violent crimes unit located Bibbs in the 5000 block of West 71st Street and arrested him on preliminary charges of reckless homicide, a Level 5 felony, and pointing a firearm, a Level 6 felony.

Formal charges were filed on Friday.

If he’s convicted of reckless homicide, the suspect faces between 1 to 6 years in prison.

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