Man fatally shot after bar fight in Hammond

A 26-year-old man was fatally shot after a fight broke out in the parking lot of a northwest Indiana bar early Sunday.

Donald Neal Jr. was found with a gunshot wound to the chest at Jefferson and Locust streets in Hammond about 3:30 a.m., according to Hammond police and the Lake County coroner’s office.

Witnesses told investigators that earlier Sunday, a woman was bumped into by a 25-year-old man at the Anchor Inn at 6712 Calumet Ave. in Hammond, Lt. Richard Hoyda said.

Afterward, Neal and the 25-year-old man who had bumped into the woman got into an argument in the bar’s parking lot, Hoyda said. The 25-year-old drove off, and Neal followed in his vehicle.

The two men got out of their vehicles at Jefferson and Locus streets in Hammond and a fight broke out, Hoyda said.

During the fight, the 25-year-old man pulled out a handgun and shot Neal once in the chest, Hoyda said.

Neal, of the 3200 block of Kenwood Street in Hammond, was taken to St. Margaret Health, where he was pronounced dead at 4:07 a.m., according to the coroner’s office. His death was ruled a homicide.

The 25-year-old shooter left the scene, but was later taken into custody, Hoyda said.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Det. Sgt. Rich Tumidalsky at (219) 852-2906.