By MIKE FLETCHER
Tribune staff writer

Derrick Kosch, the man who police say shot himself in the groin in the process of robbing a Village Pantry early Tuesday, denies holding up the store and shooting himself.

Despite surveillance video that police say is of Kosch accidentally shooting himself inside the Ohio Street convenience store, Kosch contends that he was shot by an unknown man who was trying to rob him, Lt. Donald Whitehead of the Kokomo Police Department reported Wednesday.

“He didn’t cooperate and said someone tried to rob him and shot him,” Whitehead said.

Kosch, 25, who is being held at the Howard County jail on a $100,000 cash bail, refused an interview with the Kokomo Tribune about the robbery and shooting.

In the meantime, Kosch is being closely monitored by the jail’s medical staff due to his gunshot wounds, Major Steve Rogers said Wednesday.



Kosch was treated for his injuries at Howard Regional Health System before being taken into custody.

At the jail, Kosch is being held in an individual cell in the medical watch area. He requires a wheelchair when he needs to be moved, Rogers said.

Kosch may require follow-up treatments and doctor’s visits, which will be paid for by the county, Rogers said.

According to police, Kosch walked into the store at 100 N. Ohio St. armed with a handgun and demanded cash and a pack of cigarettes.

Police said Kosch grabbed the clerk, who was talking on the phone, by the hair, told her to hang up the phone and demanded money, Whitehead said.



Kosch then allegedly demanded cigarettes. When the clerk reached for the cigarettes, Kosch shot himself in the right testicle and left leg as he was putting his gun in the waistband of his pants, police said.

After he shot himself, Kosch grabbed the money and fled the store, according to police reports. The clerk was not injured in the incident.

The clerk then called 911 and told a dispatcher that shots had been fired inside the store and she believed the suspect had shot himself during the robbery.

A short time later, police received another 911 call from a resident at 1041 E. North St., reporting someone there had been shot.

Officers arrived at the house and found Kosch with a gunshot wound to his groin area. At the home, detectives recovered the stolen money and clothing depicted in the surveillance video, but have not recovered the gun used in the robbery.

Kosch was first taken to Howard Regional Health System for treatment, then transported to the jail.

He was booked on charges of armed robbery, a Class B felony; criminal recklessness, a D felony; and a misdemeanor battery charge for grabbing the clerk’s hair.

He is being held on a $100,000 cash bail pending an arraignment, which has not been set.

If convicted of the robbery alone, Kosch could be looking at 20 years in prison.