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Police file attempted murder charges in strange shooting of motorcyclist
Eight months after an unusual shooting incident that initially appeared to be a motorcycle accident, charges of attempted murder and aggravated battery have been filed against a 43-year-old Greencastle man.
Charges were filed Monday in Putnam Circuit Court against Douglas Lee "Bam" Allsup in the July 24, 2018 shooting of Christopher R. Jordan, 47, Greencastle. Jordan was initially believed to have been the victim of a motorcycle accident after he was found lying near the intersection of North Jackson and Frazier streets with a significant head injury about 11:30 p.m.
However, a forensic nurse at St. Vincent Hospital at Indianapolis, where Jordan was taken via Stat Flight helicopter, discovered upon the victim's arrival that he was actually suffering from a gunshot wound to his head.
"We didn't find out that he had suffered a gunshot wound until he got to the hospital," Greencastle Police Chief Tom Sutherlin said of the incident at the time. "That's not what we were expecting."
With that knowledge, investigators returned to the scene and a short time later Putnam County Sheriff's Deputy Jeffery Freeman discovered a spent shell casing near a wood line about 100 feet from the crash location.
Allsup has been incarcerated in the Putnam County Jail since Aug. 3, held on charges of theft and auto theft, both Level 6 felonies.
However, he now faces charges of attempted murder, a Level 1 felony, punishable by 20-40 years in prison, and aggravated battery, a Level 3 felony, punishable by 3-16 years in prison.
The probable cause affidavit notes that Allsup has "advised he did, in fact, shoot Chris Jordan with a high-point .45 caliber handgun."
He reportedly followed the victim from a home at U.S. 231 and U.S. 40 to the Frazier Street location on Greencastle's North Side, ostensibly to confront him about an ongoing feud between them. Allsup reportedly told Jordan to get off the motorcycle, stepping aside and firing the handgun at him when Jordan allegedly swerved toward him.
The suspect also told authorities the gun he used, which he said he later threw into a river along the way to Indianapolis, had been stolen from Jordan when he stole the other man's motorcycle in Bainbridge on July 7, 2018.
Jordan is undertaking physical therapy after a long hospital stay following the shooting. He is reportedly living with relatives in Greencastle.
Putnam County Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter said Allsup is expected to make his initial court appearance on the charges Thursday morning.