Suspect in State Trooper Shooting Died from Self-Inflicted Wound, Coroner Says
Kevin Meyers, who shot an Indiana trooper during a chase, was later found dead in a cornfield from a wound he gave himself.
A man suspected of shooting an Indiana State Police trooper was found dead in a cornfield near his home in Westville, Indiana, on Friday morning. The LaPorte County Coroner said the man, Kevin W. Meyers, 54, died from a gunshot wound he gave himself. The shooting of the trooper happened earlier that same morning after a car chase that started in Michigan.
Coroner Lynn Swanson said she is still waiting on lab test results before making an official ruling. However, an autopsy — an examination done on the body — showed that Meyers shot himself in the chest. Swanson did not share many details beyond those early findings.
The trouble began around 5:30 a.m. Friday when Berrien County Sheriff's deputies in southwest Michigan started chasing a silver 2019 Ford F-150 pickup truck. The chase crossed the state line into rural LaPorte County, Indiana. Police say Meyers had taken the truck from a Michigan City car dealership for a test drive and never returned it.
Indiana State Police Sergeant Justin Heflin was pursuing the stolen truck when it turned into a Speedway gas station parking lot on U.S. 421 at 7:30 a.m. Heflin's police car bumped the back of the truck as it entered the lot. Police say Meyers then opened fire from inside the cab of the pickup truck.
At least 28 shell casings — the metal cases left after bullets are fired — were found at the scene. Most were clustered near the driver's side door of Heflin's patrol car. Heflin was struck several times, taken to South Bend Memorial Hospital, and was last reported in stable condition after surgery.
After the shooting, Meyers drove away and headed about 5 miles south toward his home in New Durham Township. The pickup truck was found abandoned near a tree line close to his home on W. Joliet Road. A large number of law enforcement officers joined the search, and Meyers' body was found in a cornfield at 11:15 a.m.
Court records show Meyers had a long history with the law, with 29 criminal cases filed against him since 1993. Most involved theft offenses rather than violence, though he did have one domestic violence conviction in 2017. In recent years, he had been charged seven times for stealing cars.
Around April 26, Meyers had been released from an Indiana state prison to finish a three-year sentence through a community corrections program. He was required to report regularly but stopped doing so. Court records show he had an active arrest warrant before Friday's events.
This was the second time in less than two months that a law enforcement officer was shot in LaPorte County. On May 22, Sheriff's Deputy Jon Samuelson was shot three times in a hospital emergency room, and the man accused of that shooting faces several felony charges. Samuelson is currently recovering at a rehabilitation center in Chicago.
On June 18, 2025, two Chesterton police officers were involved in a shootout with a man named Joseph Gerber outside a hotel in Chesterton. Gerber, who was wanted for breaking probation rules, fired first and wounded one of the officers. After being wounded himself, Gerber fatally shot himself, while the injured officer recovered and returned to duty.
Yellow evidence markers charted at least 28 shells from the exchange of gunfire, most of them clustered around the driver's side door of Heflin's cruiser.
Comprehension quiz preview
1. What did the coroner determine was the cause of Kevin Meyers' death?
2. Where was Sergeant Justin Heflin taken after he was shot?
3. How many criminal cases had been filed against Kevin Meyers since 1993?