Fort Wayne man called 911 after shooting and injuring 3 at Pokagon State Park

STEUBEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE)— Two adults and one child were hospitalized after a shooting at Pokagon State Park Saturday night.

And according to Steuben Superior Court documents, the man accused of firing the shots was also the one who called 911 afterward.

According to Indiana Conservation Officer Sgt. Patrick Heidenreich, a 911 call came in around 10:45 p.m. regarding shots fired at Pokagon State Park, near the toboggan run. There was a large crowd at the park for a fireworks show that night.

Heidenreich said officers were able to determine that there was an altercation between two men. One man allegedly shot the other in the leg. The injured man was flown to a Fort Wayne hospital in serious condition.

According to Heidenreich, a nine-year-old girl was struck by a bullet fragment and taken to an area hospital. Later on, the DNR was informed by Parkview DeKalb that they were likely treating a third victim who had gunshot wounds to their leg and arm.

Heidenreich said those who were hit by the bullet fragments had no association with the two men involved in the altercation.

Steuben’s Chief Deputy Sheriff Michael Meeks told WANE 15 that a Fort Wayne man was arrested following the shooting. Maung Okker Aung, 25, was charged with battery with a deadly weapon, a level 5 Felony, and criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, a level 6 Felony.

The account of how the altercation started, however, differed between witnesses and those involved.

According to court documents, when officers first responded, they were told it all started when one of the men bumped into the other on a trail.

Aung’s account

In an interview with police, Aung said he and his girlfriend were walking a narrow trail alongside a crowd after the fireworks, and Aung said two people directly in front of them were vaping, according to court documents. Aung said he asked them to get behind him if they were going to keep vaping because the smoke was apparently blowing in their faces and he and his girlfriend have asthma.

Aung told police the people smoking did get behind him, but they were “grumbling about it,” according to court documents.

“What are you going to do about it?” Aung asked the man, and that’s when the man “just started swinging at him” and allegedly punched Aung about three times, according to court documents.

“Well, he hit me once and I was just stunned,” Aung told police according to court documents. “And I thought that was gonna be the end of it. I thought he was just mad. Right? No. He hit me again, so I brandished my weapon. It was in a bag, so I pulled it out, you know, it’s like, stop. Right? Get off me. And they hit me again. And that’s when I started shooting.”

He went on to tell police in the interview that he had fired multiple shots because he thought the man was going to keep beating him. He also said he didn’t see anyone else around with a weapon, including the man he claimed to have shot in self-defense.

Aung said he then holstered his gun – a 9mm Glock clone – and called 911, and according to court documents, he stayed on the phone and followed instructions from dispatchers. He handed his gun over to his girlfriend and held his hands up, surrendering to police, according to court documents.

Witness accounts

A witness told police that in the initial altercation, Aung “threw his shoulder” into the man who was vaping as he walked by. The witness said in court documents that Aung “squared up” with the man and pushed him, rather than the other man initiating the fight. The witness also said they never saw the man hit Aung, and the whole ordeal lasted less than a minute, according to court documents.

Another witness told police that the man who would eventually be shot was the one to hit Aung first. They said although they didn’t see Aung fire the shots, no one else around could’ve done so.

Shooting victim’s account

When police went to the hospital and spoke with the man who was shot, he said Aung didn’t make contact with him as he walked by to get past the smoke. But the man told Aung to walk faster if he didn’t like it, and Aung allegedly turned back around, stopping so suddenly that the man ran into him. The man said that’s when Aung pushed him.

The man did tell police he punched Aung multiple in response as an “immediate and natural reaction,” according to court documents.

According to court documents, the man eventually revealed he’d been at a party at a cabin at the park and was smoking weed. The man was asked to take it outside, and that’s when he went out and started walking on the trail.

He also told police he had a gun that night, but lost it near the trail when he ran into a wooded area after being shot. According to court documents, the man “never thought to go for it” or reach for the gun during the fight.

Aung was immediately apprehended and was being held at the Steuben County Jail, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Heidenreich said this shooting was isolated and there is no continued threat. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is leading the investigation with support from the Indiana State Police and the Steuben County Sheriff’s Department.

Other witnesses

Two witnesses to the shooting spoke to WANE 15 on Monday. Chrissy Herman said she was at Pokagon with her boyfriend Christian Baez and her 12-year-old daughter.

She said they were walking the path near the Toboggan Run following a fireworks show when they heard potentially three shots.

Baez and a person he described as an off-duty first responder immediately ran to help the shooting victim. They found him about ten feet off the trail in a wooded area.

Baez told WANE 15 that during those moment, Aung showed up and proclaimed he was the shooter and that he wouldn’t shoot the man again.

Aung, according to Baez, said he shot the man because the man had been beating him up.

Herman was around the crowd of people who were all walking in that area trying to console her daughter.

“For her to hear that, she instantly started crying. Especially when Christian ran over there to help and then I’m like screaming at Christian and I didn’t know what to do. She would not let me leave her side. It was, it was very bad. She’s 12 so she was definitely very worried and very traumatized. Said she’d never camp again,” Herman said.

She found it concerning that Aung was there with a loaded gun around so many people.

“Hearing that the guy didn’t really have any thought in his head when he was just pulling out this gun shooting this guy, that’s the scariest part about it,” she added.

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