Men shoot 61-year-old U-Haul driver dead after he bumps into car, IN cops say

A man was shot to death in the front seat of a U-Haul truck after causing a minor fender bender, and now police have made an arrest, Indiana officials say.

The shooting happened after 7 p.m. April 3, near several residences on the southeast side of Indianapolis, court records filed April 21 show.

Officers arrived at the scene to find the victim, later identified as Ryan McClellan, “slumped over” with a gunshot wound, documents said. A 911 caller said the man had been shot after backing into a nearby car.

McClellan was pronounced dead at 7:36 p.m., about 10 minutes after police were called.

He was 61 years old, news outlets reported, and his cause of death was a gunshot wound.

“The U-Haul van had fresh damage to the rear bumper,” as did a nearby Nissan Altima, police said, adding that paint chips from both vehicles were on the ground. A .357 Sig shell casing was found close to the van, and witnesses reported hearing a single gunshot.

On April 15, nearly two weeks after McClellan was killed, police arrested 31-year-old Russell Phelps on charges of assisting a criminal in committing murder and obstruction of justice, records show.

A motion-activated camera captured much of what happened before and after McClellan was shot, but it wasn’t recording at the moment it happened, according to investigators.

Still, police say they saw two men — including Phelps — confronting McClellan after he dinged the car. One is seen walking up to the U-Haul and demanding “bread” from McClellan, and though McClellan says something back, it’s too muffled to make out.

The camera activates several more times and captures one of the men trying to hide his face with a jacket at 7:15 p.m. Then about four minutes later, Phelps gets into a red Chrysler, puts on a pair of gloves and takes some items from the U-Haul, including McClellan’s phone and the keys to the van, police said.

The damaged Altima belongs to a relative of Phelps who lives on the street where the shooting took place, documents show.

Investigators searched the family member’s apartment and found the keys to the U-Haul, as well as pistol magazines that could be loaded with .357 Sig rounds. They also found a pair of red Crocs worn by one of the men in the surveillance video.

Phelps said he didn’t know how the U-Haul keys got into his relative’s home, and he doesn’t know who the other man seen in the video is, according to investigators.

Police haven’t announced any other arrests in the case, and it’s unclear who Phelps’ accomplice was.

A trial is scheduled to begin July 9, records show.

This story was originally published April 23, 2025 at 12:25 PM with the headline "Men shoot 61-year-old U-Haul driver dead after he bumps into car, IN cops say."