OSCEOLA — An Osceola man is dead after he was shot at by an off duty Mishawaka police officer, then flipped his truck while trying to get away. It happened late Monday night outside Schneider Auto Sales on Lincolnway West.

The man has been identified as 43-year-old Eugene Nusbaum.

Police say witnesses to the crash called 911 just after 11 p.m., saying a man was trapped inside his truck outside Iron Butterfly Tattooing and Body Piercing, 1732 Lincoln Way West.

While firefighters were on their way to the scene, Osceola Fire Chief Les Cornelison said the call of shots fired came over the radio, and they backed off of the scene.

St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit detectives were immediately called in to investigate.

"One of our officers had just finished his tour of duty," said Mishawaka Assistant Police Chief Mike Samp. "He was on his way home and spotted what he thought to be suspicious activity in the car lot up the street. He called it in and pulled up to investigate. In the process of the investigation, a scuffle took place, where the suspect tried to flee the scene, resulting in an officer related shooting."

Asst. Chief Samp would not say if the suspect had been hit by the shots, nor whether the officer's gun had been fired before the suspect got into the truck.

In a news release issued three hours after the initial call, Samp said the situation "placed the officer's safety in extreme jeopardy."

He referred all further questions about the shooting to the prosecutor's office.

St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak was also on the scene as Metro Homicide detectives gathered evidence.

"The suspect did manage to leave the scene. [He] traveled back west on Lincoln Way, left the roadway, and struck a tree and then hit what appears to be some sort of a planter, which caused the vehicle to flip," Samp said at the scene.

Investigators are not releasing the name of the officer involved, but did say the officer was taken to the hospital to be treated for "minor injuries."

Christina Bayles, who lives across Lincoln Way from the tattoo parlor, said her husband saw the crash through their front window.

“He was out there within seconds,” she said. “He said he saw the truck flip in the air after hitting a tree.”

Bayles said her husband ran to the driver’s aid, but determined he was dead after checking his pulse. He relayed this news to an officer who had arrived on the scene just after the accident occurred, she said.

The owner of Schneider Auto Sales did not wish to be interviewed, but told WSBT police called him to the scene because they believed the suspect may have been trying to steal catalytic converters from cars.

The 700 block of Lincoln Way West opened around 8 a.m. Tuesday after crews removed the suspect's body and towed the truck he crashed.

An autopsy is scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Stay with WSBT News on the air and online for the very latest on this investigation.

South Bend Tribune Staff writer Erin Blasko contributed to this report.