Grand jury indicts Lawrence officer in shooting

A Lawrence police officer faces multiple felony charges related to a nonfatal shooting in February after a Marion County grand jury returned an indictment Thursday.

Lawrence officer Jonathan Clark has been charged in the Feb. 11 shooting of Derrick Beverly near 56th Street and Brendon Forest Drive.

According to the indictment, grand jurors found evidence to charge Clark with Level 3 felony aggravated battery and Level 5 felony counts of battery with a deadly weapon and battery resulting in serious bodily injury. The indictment says the shooting of Beverly “created a substantial risk of death and/or caused serious permanent disfigurement and/or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ.”

The charges were announced Friday in a press release from Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears. The prosecutor’s office provided no details about the shooting incident or Beverly’s condition.

Lawrence Police Department Deputy Chief Gary Woodruff issued a statement to the media saying, “As with any Grand Jury matter, the Lawrence Police Department is prohibited from discussing any incident specific details related to these proceedings. We must defer to the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, and the FOP Legal Defense Team representing Officer Clark.

“Upon learning of the indictment, Chief of Police David Hofmann immediately assigned Officer Clark to non-uniform Administrative Duty, pending the adjudication process.”

Fox 59 reported the shooting happened after a police chase related to a shoplifting report. The chase ended after the driver of a minivan lost control, and the shooting happened after a passenger fled on foot. Fox 59 reported at the time of the shooting that the victim had been shot in the arm and in the rear lower torso and had been in critical condition, and that police had retracted earlier reports that the victim had fired at officers.