Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter has announced a grand jury will determine if criminal charges should be brought in the November 2019 shooting of an 83-year-old man by Gary Police officers.

Melvin Bouler died Jan. 4, 2020, from shots fired at him by Gary police while he was sitting behind the wheel of his car. Bouler arrived at a friend’s residence in the 2400 block of Roosevelt Street with a gun amid a dispute she was having with someone else.

He went in and then later attempted to leave in his car as Gary officers responded to a call about an intoxicated person with a gun, according to reports. Officers ordered Bouler, who was hard of hearing, out the car, and then allegedly shot into the car’s front window when he didn’t comply, seriously wounding him, reports said.

Approval and jury selection for the Superior Court petition to convene a grand jury in Bouler’s death will take six to eight weeks, the prosecutor’s office said in a release Monday. Witnesses will be called in a week later, the release said, and it could take several sessions before a decision on whether to level charges will be made.

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.