CROWN POINT — Lake County prosecutors dropped charges Monday against an East Chicago man accused of shooting two people in Gary in October 2018.
Lawrence J. Coty, 29, had been facing three counts of attempted murder, one count of aggravated battery, four counts of battery and one count of attempted battery.
In a motion to dismiss the charges, Lake County Deputy Prosecutor Bradley Carter wrote the people who were wounded "refused to cooperate with the state," leaving the state unable to meet its burden of proof.
Defense attorney John Cantrell said "the truth comes out" in many cases when they're reviewed with "careful eyes."
"Sometimes people who are forced to pull a trigger are not the guilty party," he said.
The two gunshot victims, who were ages 20 and 17 at the time, accused Coty of throwing rocks at a window Oct. 21, 2018, to an apartment in the 1700 block of West Fifth Avenue.
They told police they went outside to investigate, and Coty punched one of them in the face, pulled a gun and opened fire.
Detectives found .40-caliber and .380-caliber spent shell casings outside the apartment building, according to court records.