Chesterton’s Town Council members say they found it “deeply disappointing” that Porter County Commissioner Jim Biggs and Porter County’s E911 leadership would exploit the June 18 police-involved shooting as a “platform for political maneuvering.”

A Chesterton police officer was wounded and Joseph P. Gerber, 45, of Winamac, died when he shot himself in the head after being hit by multiple gunshots during a shootout with police on Gateway Boulevard in front of the Hilton Garden Inn the morning of June 18. The officer is home after being treated at an Illinois hospital.

Councilwoman Erin Collins, D-2nd, who read the statement on behalf of the council during Monday’s meeting, said the community continues to grieve and that the council stands in support of their officers, first responders and all impacted. The statement was in response to an article containing the statements of Biggs and Porter County E911 Director Debby Gunn that appeared in The Post-Tribune on June 22.

“Most troubling is learning that just one hour after the incident began, Commissioner Biggs reached out to the press to begin spreading a false narrative. At a time when our community was in shock and our officers were still securing the scene, his focus was already on headlines,” the statement said.

Biggs, in a Tuesday phone interview, said he’s brought up combined dispatch “for years.”

“I don’t understand the defensive move that they’ve taken,” Biggs said. “I have brought this up for years, that it doesn’t make any sense” for the taxpayers of Chesterton and Porter to pay for separate dispatch or endure any delays. “If I fall sick and my wife calls 911, you know what 911 does? They call Chesterton.”

In particular, the town of Chesterton disagrees that the Chesterton police dispatch took nearly five minutes to request an ambulance. Biggs told the Post-Tribune that evidence is mounting that the towns of Chesterton and Porter need to join the county’s E911 consortium for their police dispatching and that the local income tax needs to be raised to help pay for it.

The council contends that from the moment shots were fired to when officers cleared the scene as safe for EMS to enter, the five-minute timeline for the ambulance to enter, which was provided to the Post Tribune by Gunn, “ranges from misleading to flat out wrong.”

Council said those details will be forthcoming and made clear once the investigation is complete. Two Porter police officers were among those who administered first aid to a downed officer before the ambulance was allowed to enter the scene. Gerber died immediately from his self-inflicted gunshot.

“At this point, all of the political noise is irrelevant. What matters – and what should matter to everyone – is the health and well-being, both physical and mental, of the officers who bravely responded that day and their safe recovery back to 100%,” the statement said.

Council noted that Biggs hasn’t reached out to Chesterton police Chief Tim Richardson to check on the welfare of the officers.

“That should be the story. Not false accusations. Not political pressure. Let’s focus on what truly matters: our officers, their heroic actions, and supporting them through their recovery.”

Council said that the political posturing in the wake of a crisis not only distracts from the real human cost but also undermines public trust.

“Decisions about public safety funding and dispatch services should be made through thoughtful collaboration, transparent dialogue, and evidence-based analysis — not opportunistic headlines,” the statement said.

Biggs denies any political posturing.

“Why would I even do that?” he said. “I’ve been a police officer myself. I hold a master’s degree in public safety. I’m not going to wait for the worst thing to happen here before somebody gets it.”

Council stated that it remains committed to examining all options that improve public safety and emergency response, but rejects “any attempt to exploit a tragedy to advance policy goals or to publicly shame municipalities for measured, democratic decision-making.”

Biggs, a Republican who is serving his third consecutive term and fifth term overall as the commissioner for northern Porter County, lives in Chesterton. The council invited Biggs to the next council meeting on July 14 to address what the council called his “false and misleading statements.”

“The people of Chesterton deserve facts — not fear mongering, not finger-pointing, and certainly not politics during a time of healing,” the council statement said.

Biggs will not be attending the July 14 meeting.

“Absolutely no,” he said, “if what I can expect there is what I have read in the papers. I’m not walking into a meeting only to be insulted.”

He is willing to meet with Richardson and a member of the town council. “If any of them want to call me individually and talk, I’m available.”

After the council’s statement was read, Richardson said his primary concern is for his officers and dispatchers from the recent incident, and he didn’t want to “go down the rabbit hole” of discussing other issues.

“I am going to call them games because that is what it is starting to look like, and attempts to bait us,” Richardson said.

Richardson said he is limited on what he can say because the Indiana State Police is in charge of investigating the shootout.

“But when I think the day and time comes when I can, you’ll have a true respect for what our staff, officers and dispatcher dealt with on that day,” Richardson said.

Councilman James Ton, R-1st, who is the liaison to the police department, said it’s important that the police officers be taken care of mentally, as well as physically, because this type of incident impacts everyone on the force. He praised the department’s performance.

“They conducted themselves in such a professional manner that it must be admired. The courage, training and bravery of our police department saw them through,” Ton said.

Ton also praised the leadership of Richardson and Assistant police Chief Cisco Rodriguez.

“They took clear command of the situation, regardless of what other people have said,” Ton said.

Biggs, however, said Ton reached out to him about combining emergency dispatch.

Biggs said Ton emailed him last month and wrote that Chesterton needed the county to take over its dispatch. Biggs said he asked Ton to put that in an email on behalf of the entire town council and never heard back.

Biggs also contends he has nothing to gain by having the towns join E911 but higher costs and more staff on the county’s health insurance. “Shame on me if I don’t speak up. Shame on any of us if we just roll with it.”

Jim Woods and Shelley Jones are freelance reporters for the Post-Tribune.