biggesto
08-18-2004, 06:54
An Indianapolis police officer was killed in a running gun battle that left four other officers wounded on the Southside.
The gunman, wielding a high-powered rifle, was fatally shot by police. The suspect's mother was found dead in her home.
This was the Indianapolis Police Department first line-of-duty shooting death in 16 years.
The confrontation began around 2 a.m. in the 2700 block of Dietz Street.
Police identified the gunman as Kenneth C. Anderson, 1714 E. Gimber St., and his mother Grace Anderson, who lived at 2704 Dietz St.
Police records indicate that on Jan. 18, 2004, officers went to Anderson's Gimber Street residence after reports he was behaving irrationally.
A police report said officers spoke to Grace Anderson, who told them that she was afraid for his welfare.
The report then says: "Officers went to 1714 E. Gimber and found no signs of any trouble inside. While inside, they found a large quantity of guns/ammunition, inside Mr. Anderson's bedroom and another bedroom." Officers took the guns to IPD's property room for safekeeping.
Grace Anderson told police in January that her son Kenneth had been at her residence and "carrying the handgun all day inside the house and rambling on about everyone coming to get them. She said Mr. Anderson would toss the handgun into her lap and tell her to use it if she needed and not to trust anyone."
The guns that were confiscated included several rifles and a pump-action shotgun.
But court records show no other arrests, only two traffic ticket, in 1993 and 1995.
After the melee, three officers were taken to Wishard, two to Methodist.
Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson was notified and went to an area hospital to console the family of the fatally injured officer.
Several neighborhood blocks north of Troy Avenue are being searched as daylight neared to collect gunshells and other bits of evidence.
IPD Sgt. Steve Staletovich said that around 2 a.m., the city's Metropolitan Emergency Communications Agency--the 911 center--was "lit up with people reporting there was a man in the neighborhood with a machine gun. (Dispatchers) found out from the brother of the suspect that (the shooter) killed his mother."
Staletovich said the first-arriving officer was shot before he had even had a chance to get out of the patrol car.
"He was firing indiscriminately," Staletovich said.
That first officer survived his injuries.
The shooter left the residence and began walking outside, south in the alley east of Dietz Street.
"He was shooting in the neighborhood and in the sky, everywhere," Staletovich said.
Details on how all the injuries occurred were still being sorted out today.
One officer was shot in the abdomen and leg and was in surgery. One officer was shot in the elbow. One officer suffered broken bones in both wrists. One officer was shot in the knee while he was making apprehension, and returned fire and killed the suspect.
More details on the shooter were beginning to emerge at daybreak. A relative was being interviewed Downtown by Indianapolis police homicide detectives.
Meanwhile, officers were asking residents of the neighborhood to call them to see if their homes had been pierced with bullets from the machine gun.
A police staging area was the 2700 block of Troy Avenue.
"Everyone talks about undercover work and SWAT work being dangerous. There's nothing more dangerous than beat work," Staletovich said.
The patrolman wasn't identified. He is the 56th officer to die in the line of duty since the department formed 150 years ago--an anniversary the department will mark with a ceremony next month.
On Aug. 14, 1988, IPD Officer Matt J. Faber was hit by a shotgun blast to the back as he attempted to arrest Fred Sanders at Sanders' home at 2968 North Arthington Boulevard after responding to the scene on an animal complaint. Faber died nine days later. Fred Sanders recovered from shots fired by other officers on the scene, and received seven years in prison.
IPD Officer Teresa J. Hawkins was killed on Aug. 17, 1993, at East 36th Street and Emerson Avenue when another vehicle passed a stop sign and struck her police vehicle, pushing both vehicles into a utility pole. Elvis Lacy, the driver of the striking vehicle, fled the accident scene on foot. He was apprehended a short time later and pled guilty to causing the death of another person when operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a class C felony. Lacy was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
"We've been lucky," Staletovich said.
The gunman, wielding a high-powered rifle, was fatally shot by police. The suspect's mother was found dead in her home.
This was the Indianapolis Police Department first line-of-duty shooting death in 16 years.
The confrontation began around 2 a.m. in the 2700 block of Dietz Street.
Police identified the gunman as Kenneth C. Anderson, 1714 E. Gimber St., and his mother Grace Anderson, who lived at 2704 Dietz St.
Police records indicate that on Jan. 18, 2004, officers went to Anderson's Gimber Street residence after reports he was behaving irrationally.
A police report said officers spoke to Grace Anderson, who told them that she was afraid for his welfare.
The report then says: "Officers went to 1714 E. Gimber and found no signs of any trouble inside. While inside, they found a large quantity of guns/ammunition, inside Mr. Anderson's bedroom and another bedroom." Officers took the guns to IPD's property room for safekeeping.
Grace Anderson told police in January that her son Kenneth had been at her residence and "carrying the handgun all day inside the house and rambling on about everyone coming to get them. She said Mr. Anderson would toss the handgun into her lap and tell her to use it if she needed and not to trust anyone."
The guns that were confiscated included several rifles and a pump-action shotgun.
But court records show no other arrests, only two traffic ticket, in 1993 and 1995.
After the melee, three officers were taken to Wishard, two to Methodist.
Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson was notified and went to an area hospital to console the family of the fatally injured officer.
Several neighborhood blocks north of Troy Avenue are being searched as daylight neared to collect gunshells and other bits of evidence.
IPD Sgt. Steve Staletovich said that around 2 a.m., the city's Metropolitan Emergency Communications Agency--the 911 center--was "lit up with people reporting there was a man in the neighborhood with a machine gun. (Dispatchers) found out from the brother of the suspect that (the shooter) killed his mother."
Staletovich said the first-arriving officer was shot before he had even had a chance to get out of the patrol car.
"He was firing indiscriminately," Staletovich said.
That first officer survived his injuries.
The shooter left the residence and began walking outside, south in the alley east of Dietz Street.
"He was shooting in the neighborhood and in the sky, everywhere," Staletovich said.
Details on how all the injuries occurred were still being sorted out today.
One officer was shot in the abdomen and leg and was in surgery. One officer was shot in the elbow. One officer suffered broken bones in both wrists. One officer was shot in the knee while he was making apprehension, and returned fire and killed the suspect.
More details on the shooter were beginning to emerge at daybreak. A relative was being interviewed Downtown by Indianapolis police homicide detectives.
Meanwhile, officers were asking residents of the neighborhood to call them to see if their homes had been pierced with bullets from the machine gun.
A police staging area was the 2700 block of Troy Avenue.
"Everyone talks about undercover work and SWAT work being dangerous. There's nothing more dangerous than beat work," Staletovich said.
The patrolman wasn't identified. He is the 56th officer to die in the line of duty since the department formed 150 years ago--an anniversary the department will mark with a ceremony next month.
On Aug. 14, 1988, IPD Officer Matt J. Faber was hit by a shotgun blast to the back as he attempted to arrest Fred Sanders at Sanders' home at 2968 North Arthington Boulevard after responding to the scene on an animal complaint. Faber died nine days later. Fred Sanders recovered from shots fired by other officers on the scene, and received seven years in prison.
IPD Officer Teresa J. Hawkins was killed on Aug. 17, 1993, at East 36th Street and Emerson Avenue when another vehicle passed a stop sign and struck her police vehicle, pushing both vehicles into a utility pole. Elvis Lacy, the driver of the striking vehicle, fled the accident scene on foot. He was apprehended a short time later and pled guilty to causing the death of another person when operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a class C felony. Lacy was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
"We've been lucky," Staletovich said.