PROSECUTOR ERIC HOFFMAN PUT ON NOTICE: Hoosier Enquirer Files Formal Criminal Investigation Request Against Muncie Cop Who Shut Off Bodycam Before Shooting 1-Year-Old Dog Five Times

Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman

Muncie, Indiana: Hoosier Enquirer has formally asked Delaware County Prosecutor Eric M. Hoffman to open a criminal investigation into Muncie Police Officer Michael E. Skinner (Badge #2101) for his conduct during the shooting of a one-year-old dog named Memphis.

In a letter delivered to Prosecutor Hoffman’s office today, we laid out the facts from the officer’s own report and the physical evidence that does not match it. On or about October 16, 2026, while serving a non-criminal child-support warrant at 3308 E. Wysor Street, Officer Skinner turned his body-worn camera off, later reactivated it, and stated he had discharged rounds “after being attacked by a dog.” He claimed he stopped firing once the dog stopped moving toward him. Memphis was later found alive with gunshot wounds to both rear legs—one requiring amputation. The incident was classified solely as an “Animal Incident” and explicitly noted as “Not a use-of-force. Not an officer-involved shooting,” despite five gunshots.

The request asks Prosecutor Hoffman to examine whether Officer Skinner’s actions violate Indiana law. Specifically, we have flagged potential violations of IC 35-44.1-2-5 (disabling a law enforcement recording device) if the camera was turned off with intent to commit or conceal a criminal act; IC 35-44.1-1-1 (official misconduct) based on the knowing deactivation during a use-of-force event that was then papered as a routine animal incident; and IC 35-44.1-2-3 (false informing or false reporting) if claims that the dog was attacking or moving toward the officer are shown to be knowingly false. The location of the wounds in both rear legs is difficult to reconcile with a head-on charge and is more consistent with a dog fleeing on its own property.

We have also asked Prosecutor Hoffman’s office to immediately direct the preservation of all relevant evidence, including body-worn and in-car camera footage and metadata, dispatch and 911 records, the complete case file, veterinary records for Memphis, and any physical evidence such as shell casings. The letter was copied to Muncie Police Department Professional Standards and Chief Nathan Sloan.

This is not a suggestion. It is a formal request that Delaware County Prosecutor Eric M. Hoffman treat five shots from a police handgun into a family dog—with the camera deliberately dark—as the serious matter it is. Body cameras were sold to the public as a tool of accountability. Shutting one off before the shooting, then writing a report that the wounds appear to contradict, raises questions that cannot be answered by internal paperwork alone.

Hoosiers deserve officers who follow the law they enforce. They deserve a prosecutor who will look at the evidence without first assuming the badge is always right. And they deserve the full bodycam footage so the public can see what actually happened that night. We have done our part by putting the request in front of Prosecutor Hoffman. Now it is time for him to act.

#JusticeForMemphis. The public is watching.