Story perspectives

NIPSCO Repairs Resume After Jeep Shot Halts Work

8/17/2026

Summary

Story summary

A NIPSCO Jeep was shot twice around 12:20 a.m. Friday on Rutledge Street in Gary, Indiana, halting power-restoration work.
Crews paused the repairs and resumed them at about 4 p.m. Saturday after police coordination.
Mayor Eddie Melton called the act unacceptable, added troopers and urged community support.
Outages dropped to 158,000 customers, with 33,000 still dark in Gary, while NIPSCO targets 90% restoration by Tuesday and full service by Friday.

History

Historical Context

The August 14 2003 Northeast blackout, sparked by a FirstEnergy alarm failure and tree-contacted transmission lines, left about 55 million people without power and prompted the Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandating stricter reliability standards. Those standards now guide NIPSCO’s security protocols, which Mayor Eddie Melton and Indiana State Police relied on when a 2024 Jeep shooting halted power-restoration crews.

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Story summary

A NIPSCO Jeep was shot twice around 12:20 a.m. Friday on Rutledge Street in Gary, Indiana, halting power-restoration work.
Crews paused the repairs and resumed them at about 4 p.m. Saturday after police coordination.
Mayor Eddie Melton called the act unacceptable, added troopers and urged community support.
Outages dropped to 158,000 customers, with 33,000 still dark in Gary, while NIPSCO targets 90% restoration by Tuesday and full service by Friday.

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