9:50 a.m. Monday update:
Columbus police and a Columbus Regional Health ambulance were sent to the home of Derek Henderson, 38, Columbus, two times the day before Henderson was shot to death after confronting a homeowner on Home Avenue with a baseball bat.
Records of 911 dispatches show an ambulance was sent to Henderson’s home at 1803 Home Ave. about a person being ill at 11:05 a.m. Friday, and Columbus police were sent to the scene for a medic assist a few minutes later.
The ambulance was sent back to the 1803 Home Ave. address at 2:26 p.m. on Friday about a person being ill, but there is no indication officers were also dispatched to return to Henderson’s home for that ambulance run.
Henderson was shot to death after confronting a homeowner with a baseball bat inside the homeowner’s residence on Home Avenue early Saturday morning, according to Columbus police.
ORIGINAL STORY:
The Bartholomew County Coroner’s office has released the name of a local man who was shot to death after confronting a homeowner with a baseball bat inside the homeowner’s residence on Home Avenue.
Derek Henderson, 38, Columbus, died of multiple gunshot trauma and was pronounced dead at 1:24 a.m. Saturday at Columbus Regional Hospital by Coroner Clayton Nolting, according to the coroner’s office.
Nolting said Henderson was shot three times. A forensic autopsy performed Sunday revealed gunshots to the head, chest and abdomen, according to a release from the coroner’s office.
Final autopsy results are pending a toxicology report, Nolting said.
Columbus police were sent to the 2025 Home Ave. shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday about a shooting, according to 911 records from county dispatch.
When officers arrived, they located a man inside the home, later identified as Henderson, with multiple gunshot wounds, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
The homeowner told police that he was confronted by an unknown individual, later identified as Henderson, with a baseball bat inside his home, Harris said. The homeowner discharged a firearm a short time later, striking the man, Harris said.
Henderson was listed as a fitness director for a local athletic club in 2018, according to file stories in The Republic. A check of telephone listings showed Henderson had lived at 1803 Home Ave. for about a year, a residence just a few blocks from where the shooting happened.
No additional information was released Sunday by investigators pending a continuing investigation by the Bartholomew County Death Investigation Team led by Prosecutor Bill Nash.
Nash said in an earlier interview that the death investigation team was scheduled to meet after the autopsy was completed.
The Bartholomew County Death Investigation Team is comprised of the coroner’s office, the prosecutor’s office, Indiana State Police, Columbus Police Department, and Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.
