UPDATES WITH FILM COMPANY STATEMENT
(CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind.) It wasn’t in the script, but real police officers fired shots at an actor portraying an armed robber during a movie filming shooting Tuesday evening at a bar in central Indiana.
Montgomery County Movies was filming a robbery scene just before 7 p.m. at the Backstep Brewing Company on North Green Street in Crawfordsville, Indiana, according to Indiana State Police.
It must have been realistic, because someone called 911 to report a possible armed robbery, and when Crawfordsville police arrived, “a subject came out with a ski mask on carrying a handgun, and a shot was fired by police,” a statement from state police said.
The subject, actually actor Jim Duff, was “backing out of the door with the mask on and still holding the gun,” which was actually a movie prop, police said.
Then things got dicey.
The officers told him to drop the gun, but the surprised actor just turned towards the officers, police said.
“The officers felt their lives were in danger and fired at the suspect. The subject dropped the gun and pulled off the mask while telling the officers this is a movie set.”
Fortunately, no one was injured, though a bullet ricocheted off the building, chipping the facade.
Philip Demoret, owner of Montgomery County Movies, said in a statement: “During the scene, a masked robber was suppose to flee the place after being intimidated by the patrons inside. Once outside, from what witnesses could hear and see, the actor complied with the police, removed his mask, and a gunshot was fired.”
The film crew and other actors, all inside at the time of the confrontation, were unaware of what was going on, he said.
Demoret thanked Crawfordsville police “for their hasty response to what they thought was a crime being committed. Had it been a real robbery, the police were quick to the scene, and the situation would have been diffused promptly.”
State police said neither the film company, nor the bar owners, notified police or local businesses about the filming.
Demoret said the company is “working with local law enforcement to put a plan in place so this doesn’t happen again. Safety should be of the highest priority, and communication could have spared all of us from the incident…”
Duff was initially taken into custody until his story was authenticated, and he was released.
ISP is investigating the incident and the police use of force.
Crawfordsville police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Crawfordsville is located in west central Indiana, about 20 miles south of Lafayette and 80 miles east of Champaign.