Indiana
Suspect killed in Indiana grocery store shooting moved from Chicago area within the past year
The gunman who killed two people at a northern Indiana grocery store before he was shot and killed by police previously lived in Illinois, according to authorities.
Juan Sanchez, 54, opened fire inside a Martin’s Super Markets location on Monday evening in Elkhart, killing a 19-year-old cashier, Annasue Rocha, and a second person, 49-year-old Benjamin Jeffrey. Sanchez moved to the Elkhart area in April 2024 and previously lived in Plano, Illinois, Elkhart County Prosecutor Vicki Becker said.
Becker revealed new details about what occurred in the minutes prior to the deadly shooting at a news conference on Friday. Sanchez was apparently targeting young women and was clearly “looking for a victim,” WNDU, the NBC affiliate in South Bend, reported.
Sanchez loaded his cart with alcoholic beverages and went to the self-checkout area, where Rocha was working at the time. Because he was purchasing alcohol, Rocha went to check his ID, collected it and brought the ID back to her cash register. She then returned the ID, at which point Sanchez displayed a handgun and grabbed her wrist.
A customer who saw what was happening informed a manager who confronted Sanchez, according to the prosecutor. As the manager tried to deescalate the situation, Sanchez said “she needs to listen to me or I will kill her.”
Sanchez then raised the gun and opened fire, shooting Rocha, prosecutors said.
After Rocha was shot, the manager called out for everyone to run and ushered others to safety. Sanchez then fired in the direction of the exit and toward people running the back of the store. One of those individuals, Jeffrey, was shot, authorities said.
After shooting Jeffrey, Sanchez pushed his cart toward the exit and shot Rocha additional times, according to prosecutors. Sanchez was fatally shot by police after exiting the grocery store.
Other incidents of suspicious behavior involving Sanchez and young women have been reported to authorities since Monday, prosecutors said.
In each case, the person in question avoided further contact with Sanchez, Becker said.
One woman reported she obtained a protective order in Illinois against Sanchez – almost three years ago. Although a police report was filed, no further documentation has been found demonstrating additional formal action on that report, Becker stated.
No complaints had been made to law enforcement in Elkhart County since his move to the area in 2024, authorities said.
PLAINFIELD, Ind. (WISH) — Suspects fled a Plainfield bank after it was robbed Tuesday afternoon, police say.
Plainfield Police Department was called at 2:10 p.m. Tuesday to the robbery of a bank in progress at Chase Bank, 807 Southfield Drive. That’s southwest of the intersection of Quaker Boulevard and Stafford Road/East County Road 450 South in the Hendricks County town.
Deputy Chief Ryan Salisbury of the Plainfield Police Department said detectives were working on the case.
The police department posted on social media on Tuesday night that no one was hurt in the robbery, and the suspects, who were not in custody, fled prior to the arrival of first responders.
INDIANAPOLIS — Sophie Cunningham wants to emphasize she’s perfectly happy with the Indiana Fever. She just wishes she could be locked down longer.
Cunningham, who signed a one-year, $665,000 deal with the Indiana Fever for 2026, said on her podcast, “Show Me Something,” on Tuesday night that she was frustrated with the free agency process in the condensed offseason.
She shook her head vehemently when her co-host West Wilson asked if the contract was better than she thought it would be, then said in part, “It’s tough because I came off an injury … I’m not even going to lie to you, that’s a little, kind of, frustrating.”
Fans on social media largely took that as she did not get interest from other teams, she didn’t want to return to the Fever, or she was unhappy with the salary she got.
She shut those thoughts down on social media Monday night, then expounded on her frustrations with local media at Fever training camp on Tuesday morning.
Buy 2026 Indiana Fever tickets!
“I think Twitter kind of blew up last night about a comment I made on my podcast. But that wasn’t what I meant at all,” Cunningham said. “I think if you listen to the full clip, you really understand that I just wanted to be somewhere for more than one year. I’m almost 30 years old. I want to have a home. I want to get established. And I would love to get established in a place like Indiana.”
The Fever prioritized as much financial flexibility as possible this offseason because of the new EPIC clause, which allows both Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark to renegotiate their fourth-year salaries up to the max with an extension. Boston’s salary was bumped to $1 million in 2025, and she will make the supermax from 2027-29. Clark is eligible to negotiate up to the max in 2027, and both Clark and Boston could be making the supermax starting in 2028.
Only Lexie Hull and Monique Billings got major multi-year deals with the Fever out of free agency. Hull signed for $765,000 in 2026 and $803,250 in 2027, per Her Hoop Stats, while Billings got $800,000 for both 2026 and 2027. Damiris Dantas is the only other player that got a multi-year deal out of free agency, but that was for the minimum cap hit of $277,500.
Kelsey Mitchell signed a one-year, $1.4 million supermax, Cunningham returned on a one-year deal, and Myisha Hines-Allen and Tyasha Harris each signed one-year deals.
Cunningham added that she got multi-year offers from other teams, but chose to stay with Indiana on a one-year deal.
She wanted to return to Indiana, she said, because of friendships she created with her teammates and the potential they showed, even after six separate season-ending injuries on the roster. She is also closer to her hometown of Columbia, Missouri.
“When you find a group of girls who really make you fall in love with basketball games and you enjoy it, you enjoy them, not only on the court, but off the court, like, you want to hold on to that,” Cunningham said. “ … it was never about the money, it was just about the years, because I wanted to be with them. And God forbid a girl loves her teammates, you know what I mean?”
Cunningham is also coming off a major knee injury after she tore her MCL in August 2025. She was ruled out for the rest of the 2025 season and got surgery in Indianapolis, then had a six-month rehab process before she was cleared in February.
Since then, she has been ramping back up as much as possible, including playing one-on-one, three-on-three, plyometrics, and everything she does to get ready for a regular season.
Still, she said, she’ll need to actually play to get back into full basketball shape.
“Basketball shape is just different,” Cunningham said. “You can run as many suicides as you want, you can get your butt kicked however you want, but until you’re out here playing, you’re never fully going to be in game shape until you’re playing games.”
Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at chloe.peterson@indystar.com or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter. Subscribe to IndyStar TV: Fever for in-depth analysis, behind-the-scenes coverage and more.
CLOVERDALE, Ind. (WKRC) – Authorities in Indiana found a semi trailer loaded up with hundreds of pounds of suspected cocaine.
According to a statement issued by the Indiana State Police (ISP), 27-year-old Harmandeep Singh of Bakersfield, California was taken into custody after nearly 400 pounds of suspected cocaine were reportedly found in the trailer of a commercial truck.
Per the statement, an ISP trooper seized the suspected cocaine during a traffic stop on Interstate 70 in Putnam County, authorities said.
The stop occurred Tuesday morning near the 37-mile marker, just east of Cloverdale, after a commercial motor vehicle was observed exceeding the posted speed limit.
Police said Singh displayed several indicators of possible criminal activity during the encounter. After obtaining consent to search the vehicle, troopers discovered multiple duffel bags and cardboard boxes in the trailer containing approximately 392 pounds (178 kilograms) of suspected cocaine.
Authorities estimated the street value of the drugs at about $9 million.
Singh was taken into custody and taken to the Putnam County Jail, where he is being held on a $30,000 cash bond.
He faces the following preliminary charges, per the post:
- Possession of a narcotic drug
Formal charges will be determined by the Putnam County prosecutor.
BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT
Indiana State Police said drug interdiction remains a priority, with troopers focusing on major highways to disrupt the flow of illegal narcotics into the state.
-
Connecticut3 minutes agoOpinion: This Earth Day make polluters pay
-
Delaware9 minutes agoDelaware’s first elementary school radio station hits the airwaves
-
Florida15 minutes agoFlorida investigating AI role in mass shooting at university
-
Georgia21 minutes agoMan accused in fatal Georgia shooting spree dies in jail, officials say
-
Hawaii27 minutes agoPolice Commission narrows Honolulu chief candidates to 6 semifinalists
-
Idaho33 minutes ago11-year-old from Idaho competing for $20K, national spotlight – East Idaho News
-
Illinois39 minutes agoGOP Rep. Ryan Spain opposes Illinois redistricting changes
-
Indiana45 minutes agoSuspects flee robbery at Chase Bank in Plainfield