Two week electricity blackout sees power crews SHOT AT in notoriously-scary Midwest city where Michael Jackson was born
Restoration crews working to restore power in Gary, Indiana were forced to briefly halt operations after being shot at overnight, following storms that left thousands of residents without electricity for roughly two weeks. Two NIPSCO utility workers were surveying Rutledge Street just after midnight on 15 August when gunfire struck their vehicle twice; neither employee was injured, though one bullet lodged in a headrest. Mayor Eddie Melton condemned the shooting as "unacceptable" and pledged it would not derail efforts to restore power to residents who had already endured days in the dark.
Work was paused while the city and NIPSCO agreed a safety plan, with Indiana State Police deploying extra troopers alongside local officers to protect crews before restoration resumed on Saturday evening. A union representative said workers were labouring around the clock to reconnect roughly 300,000 customers across three counties. By Monday afternoon, NIPSCO reported around 3,878 customers still without power following storms that had killed at least seven people, and the company said it was reviewing security measures while working with law enforcement to identify the gunman, who remains unidentified.
- Gary, Indiana utility crew shot at while restoring storm-hit power on 15 August.
- No injuries; restoration work paused, then resumed with added police protection.
- About 3,878 customers still without power; storms killed at least seven people.
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Gary, Indiana, sits on Lake Michigan near Chicago and is a former steel-making hub that has struggled economically for decades, giving it a reputation for high crime and abandoned buildings. It is also known as the birthplace of Michael Jackson and the Jackson family. In mid-August, severe storms swept through the region, killing several people and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes across Gary and the surrounding counties.
NIPSCO is the utility company responsible for restoring electricity in the area, and its repair crews became targets when unknown gunmen fired at one of their vehicles while workers were out at night assessing the damage. City and state officials, including Gary's mayor, responded by pausing repair work temporarily and bringing in extra police protection so crews could resume safely.
The story matters because it combines two ongoing local issues: a prolonged power outage leaving residents without electricity for around two weeks in summer heat, and concerns about safety and crime that have long shaped Gary's public image. The shooting has raised questions about how utility workers can be protected while restoring essential services, and about the wider condition of a city already facing significant social and economic challenges.