INDIANAPOLIS — An Anderson man is now charged with attempted murder after police say he attacked a coworker with a hammer last week while working at an Indy sheet metal company.

Austin Hahn, a 27-year-old man from Anderson, was arrested on Aug. 21 after investigators with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department determined he was involved in a hammer attack that sent one man to the hospital.

Hahn now faces one felony charge of attempted murder.

IMPD officers were first made aware of the attack around 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 20, the day before Hahn’s arrest, when they were called to the Bright Sheet Metal Company on W. 71st Street for a reported battery.

Upon arrival at the business, which is located on Indy’s northwest side, officers found a man with trauma injuries to his face and back of the head.

The victim, a police report shows, was taken to St. Vincent Hospital in serious condition. There, he received treatment for a brain bleed, several skull fractures, a cut to his face, a hole in his jaw and several missing teeth.

The victim told IMPD officers he was working at a station inside the sheet metal company when the attack occurred. According to the victim, he was at his workstation when he was hit in the back of the head and went unconscious. He said multiple coworkers likely witnessed the attack.

Interviews conducted by IMPD with employees of Bright Sheet Metal pointed to Austin Hahn, who was assigned to the same workstation as the victim, as the suspect in the attack. Witnesses also offered possible motives.

According to multiple coworker interviews, Hahn and the victim were “the best of friends” but had gotten into a fight the week before. One coworker and witness to the attack told IMPD that there was a problem where Hahn had made the victim mad, but that Hahn had apologized later that day and that there was no further fighting.

Despite this, several people working within feet of the workstation where the attack occurred identified Hahn as the perpetrator. Coworkers described seeing him approach the victim from behind and swinging a hammer above his head multiple times to hit the victim in the head.

One coworker identified the hammer that Hahn used as a tinner hammer, which has a square face on one side and a pointed end on the other. That witness said Hahn was using the pointed end of the hammer to hit the victim in the head, which happened probably six or seven times.

Several coworkers described seeing Hahn leave the building after the attack, stating that he threw the hammer in a trash can before “calmly” walking out the back entrance and driving away in his car.

One maintenance man working in the back of the business, who told IMPD he did not witness the attack, said he saw Hahn throw the hammer away and leave the building. The man recounted Hahn walking into the backroom, tapping him on the chest and saying “s**t happens” before walking out to the parking lot. The man then learned of the attack on Hahn’s coworker.

During an interview with IMPD detectives, Hahn’s roommate said that despite living together the two were not close because Hahn had been using marijuana “a lot” lately. However, the roommate also said that Hahn was not acting unusually when he arrived at work on Aug. 20.

According to IMPD’s report on the incident, Hahn drove to his mother’s house in Anderson after the attack. Upon arrival, Hahn’s mother reportedly called the Anderson Police Department to report her son’s involvement in the attack.

Hahn was detained at the home soon after, IMPD said, and was taken to the local police station. Shortly after, Hahn’s mother brought several pill bottles to the APD station that she said her son takes to control seizures. She also said she had contacted a lawyer to represent Hahn.

IMPD detectives then traveled to Anderson to pick up Hahn and took him to the Criminal Justice Campus in Indianapolis. During this process, one detective said he saw what appeared to be dried blood on Hahn’s shirt and pants.

According to online court records, several no-contact orders have been filed against Hahn since he was booked into jail. There is a jury trial for Hahn’s case scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on Oct. 30, 2023.