Channel 6 is on the case!

Three people were shot when a stand-up comedian opened fire in a crowded Marion sports bar early Saturday, police said.

Rodney Carter is the alleged shooter. And he’s the alleged comedian. He got in a man’s face at Yeakle’s Sports Bar in Marion, IN, at just about closing time (when things always go to hell) and fired several shots at the man’s legs, hitting him three times. (He also probably was exhorting the man to “Dance! Dance! Dance like the chicken shit you are, motherf***er!” We made that part up. But why else do you fire several times at a man’s legs unless you’re engaging in a little Evil Roy Slade action?) He also winged a couple of female patrons. Everyone’s been treated and released.

Carter fled. Marion is about 80 miles or so northeast of Indy. He’s still at large, from what we can tell.

Though the victims have all been treated and released from the hospital, police are still searching for the shooting suspect, 44 year old Rodney Carter. Carter has been trying to make a name for himself as a standup comic since 2002. He goes by the stage name “Dirty Red,” and has several online profiles promoting his work. Now police hope someone will recognize him and turn him in.

That’s from Fox 59’s Kent Erdahl. (Kent must be a journo student. That first sentence is pretty humorous. Do cops only hunt down shooters if the wounds are serious enough to require hospitalization?)

The subhead on the story says, “Marion police hope standup comic’s notority(sic) will help lead to arrest.” Yeah… good luck with that.

We’re pained that they insist on referring to the shooter as a comic. But, hey, it makes for a better story.

We’re also not so sure that they have the right guy. Something’s puzzling us. Check out this clip of “Dirty Red”:

Then check out this pic that accompanied the Channel 6 story:

Is there any way they’re the same person? Any way at all? We don’t think so.

The suspect has supposedly performed at Yeakle’s. So someone at the bar ID’ed him. But the guy in the pic doesn’t look like the guy in the video. So… either there’s someone impersonating Dirty Red. (Or Dirty Red doesn’t look at all like his “eight by ten,” which is true for so many comics!)

But someone purporting to be a friend of Carter’s– and presumably the man who ID’ed Carter as “Dirty Red”– is quoted in the Fox story. Maybe there’s been a mixup at the cop station and the wrong pic is circulating. Or the folks at Fox 59 have bad info. (They did, after all, spell “notoriety” wrong.)

Stay tuned.

We predict that, when Carter is sentenced, he’ll say, “Great. That sounds fair.”

WISH 8 didn’t identify Carter as a comedian. (They also say it happened outside the bar.) We suppose we shouldn’t take umbrage that the various news orgs are seizing upon Carter’s avocation. As the Female Half points out: “If his hobby were the trapeze, they’d be playing that up. And the video would be all over the place!” She speaketh the truth.