Pete Buttigieg Leaves Campaign Trail After Police Shooting in South Bend

Democratic presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks at a grassroots event on Fri
AP/Sait Serkan Gurbuz

Mayor Pete Buttigieg returned to South Bend Sunday after a police officer shot and killed a black man.

Buttigieg appeared on two Sunday news shows — CBS’s Face the Nation and CNN’s State of the Union. He also canceled a planned trip to attend an LGTBQ Democratic National Committee fundraiser in New York City on Monday, according to CNN.

Despite splitting his time between South Bend and the campaign trail, Buttigieg is making a very public effort to address the shooting and its consequences.

A police officer was responding to a report of a man allegedly breaking into cars and found Eric Logan, 53, partially inside a vehicle, according to the mayor’s office and reports in the South Bend Tribune. Logan approached the officer with a knife raised and the officer shot him. Despite being transferred to the hospital, Logan died as a result of the wound.

Buttigieg returned to South Bend to meet with Logan’s family members and held a press conference.

He explained during the press conference that although he previously resisted appearing on camera after officer shootings, he felt it was important to do so.

“I know that whenever an incident like this happens, there is tremendous hurt that can come about. That the city will be hurting and we will be striving to reach out to community members, to community leaders, to keep the channels of communication open, even as we wait for more facts to come in,” Buttigieg said during the press conference.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.