A driver who exchanged gunfire with police as he was pursued from Brown County into Bartholomew County held SWAT team members at bay for nearly six hours Wednesday afternoon before he was taken into custody in a farm field near Deaver Road.
The incident began at about noon when Indiana State Police and others reported that an armed suicidal individual was heading out of Brown County driving a pickup truck and needed to be located.
A number of state troopers, Bartholomew County Sheriff deputies and Columbus police eventually joined the pursuit after the vehicle was located, which lasted for nearly an hour. The driver, who had been going in and out of farm fields, drove his truck into a field off Deaver Road near South County Road 400W in southwestern Bartholomew County at the end of the pursuit and a standoff in the farm field began.
No injuries were reported during the pursuit, although there was an exchange of gunfire between the driver and police as vehicles were moving that resulted in damage to police vehicles, including one that was no longer operational at the scene of the standoff. Police believed the suspect had multiple weapons, including a handgun and a rifle and perhaps was contemplating a "suicide by cop" scenario.
A single shot was fired by the suspect from the vehicle at 4:58 p.m. but nobody was injured from that, police said.
At 5:30 p.m., police said there were "shots fired" after the suspect left his vehicle and went into the back of his truck. Police had hoped to use drones to view what the suspect was doing, but were not able to because of windy conditions.
SWAT team members tossed a stun grenade at the vehicle before moving towards it and the suspect. Once SWAT team members got to the truck, they said the suspect had blood on his arm and was not moving and was curled up with his head against the truck tailgate.
The suspect was taken into custody at 5:52 p.m. and a Lifeline helicopter was called to transport the suspect for medical care.
During the standoff throughout the afternoon, police did communicate with the individual by cell phone, with instructions to SWAT team members being relayed as a result of those conversations.
Access to South County Road 400W, South County Road 300W and Deaver Road was blocked during the standoff as negotiations continued throughout the afternoon. At one point, state police troopers heading to the scene were advised to turn off their sirens before reaching the standoff area.
Many non-emergency calls were delayed Wednesday afternoon due to the manpower being deployed at the standoff scene. Columbus police responded to two overdose calls in the city while the standoff continued.
