Federal marshals arrest suspect in Indiana double-slaying

GARY, Ind. (AP) - A man wanted in the fatal shootings of a Gary police officer's son and another man was apprehended in California by federal marshals after he tossed a gun during a foot chase, officials said.

Michael Sherrod Smith, 35, was arrested on July 21 in Oakland, California, on two counts each of murder and attempted murder, the U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force said.

Smith, who had a Gary address as recently as June 2019, was arrested by marshals with the U.S. Marshals Pacific Southwest Fugitive Task Force after he left a home in Oakland. When investigators approached, Smith ran and discarded a firearm, which officials recovered in the arrest.

Smith is accused of firing a semi-automatic pistol in September 2019 into a vehicle in Gary occupied by four people.

That shooting killed Kerry Rice Jr., 32, and Aaron Scott, 30, and wounded Rice's brother, Steven Rice, and a woman, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported.

Kerry Rice and Steven Rice were the sons of Gary police Sgt. Kerry Rice Sr. Although Steven Rice, 30, survived last year's shooting, he was fatally shot on July 1 in Gary, records show.

Smith is scheduled for an extradition hearing in California before he is sent back to Lake County., Indiana. His next hearing in the double-killing is scheduled on Aug. 14.

It wasn't clear from online court records whether Smith has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.