breaking news - police action shooting in straughn

[djrnewcastle]

Listening to the scanner and after a chase on U.S. 40 a suspect exchanged gun fire with an officer the officer returned fire and shot the suspect and Lifeline has been called

[djrnewcastle]

Lifeline arrived and within a few minutes the coroner was called and the officer they sent to Methodist was told to come back to the scene of the shooting.

[Who]

11/13/2009 11:30:00 PM Email this article • Print this article

BREAKING NEWS: Man dies after officers return fire in pursuit

Courier-Times Staff Report

DUBLIN - A 30-minute police chase ended in a shootout on U.S. 40 in eastern Henry County late Friday night.

The chase started in Fayette County and ended on a U.S. 40 median east of Straughn, where the person who drove the car in the chase fired two shots at police who had surrounded the vehicle.

The police returned fire, killing the person.

A LifeLine medical helicopter was dispatched to transport the person, who authorities have not yet identified. But it was called off after the man died.

Just before midnight on Friday, medics moved the person's body from the scene.

The chase began in Fayette County at about 9:52 p.m. when police tried to stop the person who was driving a Chevy Cavalier.
According to state police Sgt. John Bowling, police followed the car on country roads. Eventually the car traveled eastbound onto U.S. 40 where it later abruptly did a U-turn.

Four sheriff's department vehicles stopped within feet of the car. The man fired two shots at officers, Bowling said, and they returned fire, fatally wounding the man. A bullet hole was found in at least one officer's vehicle, but no police were hurt.
The state police spokesman said speeds in the 30-minute chase didn't exceed 60 mph.

State police closed U.S. 40 at the scene of the shooting following the incident.

Det. Capt. Kim Cronk said officers won't be interviewed about the incident until after a 48-hour "cool-down" period under sheriff's department policy. He said he expects the investigation to continue into next week.

Cronk said police radio traffic indicated the suspect fled after state police stopped his car and then waved a firearm at officers during the chase.

See The Courier-Times on Monday for further updates.

[Parent 2]

Could someone post the article on this from Saturday's paper about who it was and that the gun was stolen? My username isn't working on the newspaper site.

[Who]

11/13/2009 11:30:00 PM Email this article • Print this article

BREAKING NEWS: Stolen gun used in shooting with police

Courier-Times Staff Report

STRAUGHN - Police say the handgun Ryan Pruet, 33, Connersville, used in the Friday night shootout with police that ended his life was stolen.

Pruet allegedly called off a 30-minute, slow-speed run from officers that began in Fayette County when he made an abrupt U-turn in his car on U.S. 40 near Bentonville Road.

Six officers in five vehicles confronted the man at close quarters, where he opened fire with the stolen automatic handgun, according to Det. Capt. Kim Cronk, Henry County Sheriff's Department. Five of the officers returned fire, he said, killing the man.

Those officers - Major Jay Davis and Deputy Matt Pierce of the sheriff's department, Cambridge City police officer Richard Roberts and two state troopers, Nick Razor and another not yet identified - were shaken by the incident but uninjured, Cronk said.

The unidentified trooper sparked the incident at about 9:50 p.m. when he stopped Pruet's Chevy Cavalier in northwest Fayette County for running a stop sign. Pruet fled the stop and in the course of the chase, waved the gun at police. According to Sgt. John Bowling, state police spokesman, speeds ranged from 30 to 60 mph.

Pruet's car turned east onto U.S. 40 from Bentonville Road then made the U-turn at about 10:20 p.m., stopping in the median. Pursuing officers, including New Castle police officer Brandy Downs, who was riding with Pierce, surrounded his car.

State police state, "The suspect exited his vehicle, displayed a handgun and fired in the direction of the officers. Officers on the scene returned fire, striking the suspect."

Officers called medics to the scene and a LifeLine medical helicopter but "by the time they arrived, the suspect had succumbed to his injuries," the release says.

Investigators are still searching for reasons why Pruet fled the traffic stop. On Saturday afternoon, Cronk said he wasn't sure yet if the Chevy Cavalier was stolen, though he confirmed Pruet had no outstanding warrants.

Court records show prosecutors dismissed six counts of theft and a single count of conversion filed against Pruet in Fayette Superior Court in Oct. 2007 in a Pretrial Diversion Agreement. In 1999, Pruet pleaded guilty to a driving while intoxicated charge and was sentenced to a year of probation. A charge filed against him in 1996 under a state law that prohibits minors from "recklessly" occupying taverns was dropped.

Coroner Stacey Guffey said he was headed to Methodist Hospital on Friday night to investigate the shooting as a sheriff's department detective when he was called back to begin a death investigation.

State police closed U.S. 40 around the scene briefly Friday night. Medics removed Pruet's body at around midnight. An autopsy is expected either today or tomorrow. Toxicology results will show whether or not Pruet was intoxicated.

A bullet lodged in at least one police vehicle, Davis' Ford Explorer police cruiser, where it punched a hole in the hood.

A crisis management team from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is coming to Henry County to debrief and counsel officers involved in the shooting. Police investigators will reportedly observe a 48-hour "cool-down" period before interviewing the officers.

Cronk said department procedure calls for criminal and internal investigations of police-action shootings and then a review by the department's shooting review board.

[Parent 2]

Thank you!!