Pen Standifer, 65, was shot and killed in the early morning hours of June 1, 2024, in the driveway of his Gary, Indiana home in the 4100 block of West 23rd Avenue. Preparing to leave for his job as a dispatch operator for the Indiana Toll Road, he was found collapsed near his vehicle after neighbors heard gunshots. First responders transported him to Northlake Methodist Hospital, where he died of multiple gunshot wounds. The death has been ruled a homicide and the Gary Police Department, working with the Lake County Prosecutor’s Homicide Task Force, has an active investigation; no arrests or suspects have been publicly identified. His sister said she thinks a carjacking may have been the motive.

Standifer was a Westside High School graduate who earned a bachelor’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Education from Indiana State University. He lived abroad for a time, taught special education, sang in the New Hope Baptist Church choir, and was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. If anyone saw activity in the 4100 block of West 23rd Avenue the morning of June 1, 2024, or has information that could help investigators, please come forward.