What happened to Eric Logan?

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On June 16, 2019, Eric Logan was fatally wounded by O'Neill during an investigation into a series of vehicle thefts. According to the St. Joseph County Prosecutor's office, the investigation began shortly before 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 16. Police were called to the 100 block of North William Street after dispatch received a report of a suspicious person going through cars. According to scanner traffic from the incident published by the South Bend Tribune, the shooting happened not long after officer Ryan O'Neill arrived at the parking lot of the Central High School Apartments.  

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Officials said when O'Neill confronted a man, later identified as Logan, the man stepped out of a vehicle with a knife in his hand and approached O'Neill with the weapon raised. O'Neill stepped back and ordered Logan to drop the weapon, police say. Police said when Logan did not comply, O'Neill fired his service weapon and struck Logan. While O'Neill initially asked for an ambulance to respond to the scene, he instead drove Logan to Memorial Hospital in his squad car. Logan was pronounced dead at the hospital. Hertel, the Ripley County prosecutor, was brought in to review the incident in July. O'Neill resigned from the department about a month after the shooting. At the same time, Hertel said he was charging O'Neill with official misconduct, ghost employment and public indecency in allegations not related to Logan's death. O'Neill was charged Friday with two felonies and a misdemeanor because prosecutors say O’Neill paid a woman for sex while he was on duty, in uniform and in a squad car in May 2019, a month before Logan was shot to death. 

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St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter said after the shooting that O’Neill's dash and body cameras weren’t activated because he was driving slowly without his emergency lights on. In the immediate aftermath, South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski issued a general order making it clear that all officers are to keep their body cameras activated when engaging members of the public, including non-emergency call responses and any time there is civilian contact in relation to a complaint.  

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Shortly after the shooting, members of Logan's family told the South Bend Tribune that the incident sounded out of character for him. He had no history of theft, they said, and wouldn't attack an armed officer with a knife. Looking for answers, the family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and O'Neill, saying the officer used excessive deadly force in his encounter with Logan and that Logan was treated unlawfully because of his race. 

 

What can we do? 

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1. Contact Kenneth P. Cotter, Prosecuting Attorney demanding officer Ryan O’Neill be arrested and prosecuted for the racist murder of Eric Logan

574-235-9544