Suspect in fatal shooting charged
Jun. 30—ELKHART — An Elkhart man now faces a murder charge in the shooting death of another man earlier this month.
Jordan Wolf, 22, was charged with murder in a case filed Tuesday. Investigators allege he shot and killed Forrest Howard, 27, in the 500 block of South Fifth Street in Elkhart around 5 a.m. on June 19.
An autopsy determined Howard had been shot three times when he died, details in the probable cause affidavit in the case show.
Investigators with the Elkhart County Homicide Unit reviewed security camera video in the area, which showed Wolf fighting with Howard, and then pushing him and shooting him. Wolf and another man seen in the video then flee in a car driven by another person, police said in the affidavit.
About four days after the shooting, a detective interviewed the driver of the car seen in the video. The driver said he was hanging out with Wolf and the other man when Wolf asked to be taken to South Fifth Street. Some time after dropping the men off, the driver said he pulled into an alley that bisects the street, where he found Wolf and the other man with Howard, according to the affidavit.
The driver told the detective he saw Wolf and Howard fight, with Wolf then shooting Howard. He heard two shots, followed by a pause, and then a third shot. The detective said in the affidavit that story lined up with what the security footage showed.
However, the driver's account about what the other man was doing was inconsistent with the video, the affidavit shows. Investigators had also earlier interviewed the other man, who'd claimed he had left the area and didn't know what happened. The affidavit shows that account didn't match with the video.
The driver, meanwhile, also alleged Wolf had taken about his handgun, and the pieces were tossed at a location in Michigan. Investigators followed up on that information and recovered a handgun part, similar to the one described, that had been found by Edwardsburg police in one of the areas the man had referenced, according to the affidavit.
Information in the affidavit shows Wolf was arrested in the murder case on June 24 at the Elkhart County Correctional Complex. Jail information also indicates he's also being held on prior cases.
The murder case was filed in Elkhart County Circuit Court. Wolf is scheduled to appear for an initial hearing on Thursday.
Aimee Ambrose can be reached at aimee.ambrose@goshennews.com or 574-533-2151, ext. 240316. Follow her on Twitter at @aambrose_TGN.
