(La Porte County, IN) - An annual fund raiser for scholarships during the La Porte County Fair will go toward a La Porte County Sheriff’s Deputy recovering from gunshot wounds.

 

Traditionally, the guitar used by the headline performer during the fair is auctioned off with the proceeds going to scholarships.

 

Fair Manager Don Stoner said three $1,500 scholarships were awarded last year from the proceeds.

 

This year, Stoner said the guitar used by country music star Dylan Scott, who performs in the grandstands Thursday night, will go out for bids with the proceeds going to help officer Jon Samuelson and his family.

 

Currently, Samuelson, 33, is in a rehabilitation facility after shot in May by a gunman at Franciscan Health outside Michigan City.

 

The suspect, Sharrod Grafton, Jr., 22, of Chicago is charged with attempted murder.

 

Police said Samuelson stopped to assist Grafton, who he thought was a disabled motorist, and took him to the hospital as requested.  Samuelson left but soon returned after informed Grafton was a suspect in the theft of his mother’s car at gunpoint.

 

The officer was shot three times during a scuffle with the suspect in the emergency room area of the hospital.