Inset left: Maclean Murt (Hamilton County Sheriff's Office). Inset right: Justin Burton (GoFundMe). Background: Britton Tavern in Fishers, Indiana (WXIN/YouTube).
An apparent disagreement over a vape at an Indiana bar turned deadly when a man sitting in his wheelchair fatally shot another man in the face, authorities say.
Maclean Murt, 31, has been charged with murder and armed robbery, Hamilton County court records show. The shooting took place in the early hours of Monday morning, as a tavern was getting ready to close.
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The suspect was at Britton Tavern in Fishers, a city in the Indianapolis metropolitan area. Also present was 30-year-old Justin Burton. As the clock ticked toward 3 a.m., which the bar's website shows is its closing time, something changed.
An altercation was afoot, and the source of the disagreement was reportedly a vape.
According to local Fox affiliate WXIN, Murt saw his friend arguing with Burton, alleging Burton had stolen the friend's vape. Murt rolled his wheelchair over to the pair by the tavern's bathrooms and confronted the man.
What happened next was disputed. The suspect reportedly said Burton pushed him, causing him to flip backward, and, as he did so, "a round slipped off." However, according to Indianapolis NBC affiliate WTHR, surveillance footage showed that Murt was the one to have gotten physical; he allegedly grabbed and yanked Burton's arm, causing Murt to fall out of his wheelchair, and then pulled out a gun and shot the victim in the head.
"You just killed him," a bouncer said, according to a witness. As this witness exited the bathroom, he saw the victim "with his head open," per court documents obtained by the outlets. "The witness stated that he heard the guy in the wheelchair say to the bouncer that he shot the victim because he stole his vape," the documents also said.
The Fishers Police Department was called to the tavern at about 2:45 a.m. Officers and medics tried to save Burton, but he was pronounced dead at the scene after having sustained "injuries consistent with a single gunshot wound."
Officers began investigating and speaking with witnesses. Murt was also still there.
"I'm sorry about this," the suspect allegedly told officers. He was then brought to the Fishers Police Department headquarters. At one point, when he was left alone in a room, he reportedly stated, "You could have just gave the vape up, dude, and none of this would have happened."
Investigators were also still collecting evidence at the scene of the crime. According to police, a woman who told officers she was Murt's sister was holding the vape that had reportedly caused the fight.
"I'm just in shock," she allegedly said. "Because my brother just fâ shot somebody."
Murt was placed in the Hamilton County Jail. He had an initial court appearance scheduled for Friday.
According to a GoFundMe set up for Burton's family, the man had just turned 30 years old hours before the shooting.
"He was a victim of gun violence," the fundraiser set up by his former swimming coach says, adding, "His personality was LARGE. He was outgoing and funny. I told him when he graduated that he was going to go places."
