MUNCIE’S CHIEF OF POLICE SLOAN HAS A TEMPER TANTRUM THE SECOND REAL ACCOUNTABILITY SHOWS UP

Officer Sloan throws temper tantrum after Prosecutor files investigation.

Muncie Police Department is the biggest joke in Indiana right now, and Chief Nathan Sloan’s latest press release proves it.

On the early morning of October 16, Officer Michael E. Skinner (Badge #2101) was serving a non-criminal child-support warrant at a home on East Wysor Street. According to his own report, he turned his body-worn camera off, rode back to the address, and then “discharged rounds” after claiming he was attacked by a dog. He wrote that he stopped firing once the animal “stopped moving towards me” and was “uncertain if the dog was struck.”

The one-year-old dog, named Memphis, was later found alive with gunshot wounds to both rear legs. One of those legs now requires amputation. The body camera recorded none of the shooting. The entire event was logged as a routine “Animal Incident” and specifically marked “Not a use-of-force. Not an officer-involved shooting.”

Rear-leg wounds on a dog that was supposedly charging straight at an officer don’t add up. A charging animal gets hit in the front. A dog trying to get away gets hit in the back. Without video, the public is left with one officer’s word after he deliberately killed the camera.

Hoosier Enquirer filed a formal request with Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman and asked Mayor Dan Ridenour for an independent review and full evidence preservation. The Prosecutor’s office has requested files. That is not a social-media rumor. That is the legal process working the way it is supposed to.

Instead of answers, Muncie PD issued a same-day press release from Chief Sloan claiming this is “not a cover-up,” that they followed “established process,” and that the online author never sought clarification. We did reach out. We got silence until the heat got too high. Typical of a department that still thinks the old Star Press will carry their water.

Body cameras exist for one reason: so the people of Muncie don’t have to take an officer’s word when a family pet is shot five times in the dark. Turning one off before a use of force, then papering the whole thing as a minor animal call, is the opposite of the accountability every Hoosier has a right to demand. Good cops don’t need to hide the video. The ones who do should answer for it.

Any retaliation, intimidation, or threats against this outlet or the family will be sent straight to the Indiana State Police and federal authorities. We are not the Star Press. We do not play along with bullies or puppy killers.

The full body-camera footage, audit logs, and complete case file belong in the open. The people of Muncie are ready for real accountability. Chief Sloan can issue all the carefully worded releases he wants. The dog’s legs tell the rest of the story.