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The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office is seeking a stay-away order against a teenager in connection to a shooting that killed two people over the July Fourth holiday weekend and anticipates seeking more in an effort to quell violence in downtown Indianapolis.
Authorities filed a request Monday for a stay-away order against Vincent Lanking Jr., 17, who is being charged as an adult and faces counts of dangerous possession of a firearm, resisting law enforcement and obstruction of justice.
Lanking was one of four teens charged Monday with dangerous possession of a firearm in connection with the weekend violence The other three were charged as juveniles and consequently no information regarding potential stay-away requests against them is publicly available.
If a judge approves the order against Lanking, he would be required to stay five blocks away from Monument Circle. Stay-away orders were one of the crime-prevention measures authorities said they would implement in the aftermath of the weekend violence, an approach that prosecutors said has been successful in Broad Ripple.
Michael Leffler, spokesman for the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, said he anticipates more stay-away orders being filed in the downtown case as investigators continue their work and additional charges are filed.
Stay-away orders are officially called restraining or protective orders and are often used in domestic violence cases. But they also can be used to keep suspects away from areas of potential violence as a condition of pre-trial release, if approved by a judge.
Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said he has often utilized these orders in theft and trespass cases and that they’ve been successful in other areas of the city, such as Broad Ripple, when violent episodes occur.
“We have utilized it in multiple circumstances where we felt like it was appropriate, where part of the draw was maybe a specific location,” Mears said.
“We’re certainly gonna advocate on behalf of the community as a whole and feel like everybody’s interest is served if these individuals stay away from or have no contact with areas where these crimes are alleged to have occurred,” he added.
Requests for stay-away orders are made by the prosecutor’s office in individual cases and are enforced through IMPD. If a person violates the order, police can file a motion to revoke their bond.
Aaron Harshman, an attorney with Indianapolis-based Harshman Ponist Smith & Rayl, said the orders are typically in place through the duration of a person’s case.
According to court documents, Lanking refused to cooperate with police who were patrolling the area around Monument Circle in the early hours of July 5 following the city’s 4th of July events.
He was found trying to conceal a Glock 19X in his clothing while walking around the area of West Washington and Meridian streets around 1 a.m., court documents state. When an officer tried to initiate an investigative stop on Lanking, he allegedly took off running, throwing the gun away from him during the chase.
The prosecutor’s office argues that a stay-away order against Lanking is “necessary to ensure peace in the community until this cause is disposed of.”
The July 5 shooting was the third shooting in the downtown area in two weeks.
In the hours after the downtown Indianapolis fireworks celebration, seven people were injured in a shooting near the intersection of Illinois and Washington streets. WXIN Channel 59 reported that two of the victims, boys, ages 16 and 15, had died.
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