Terre Haute Police Officer Killed In Shooting, Suspect Deceased

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHR) – A Terre Haute police officer was fatally shot while investigating a homicide Friday evening.

Police say four officers responded to a residence in The Garden Quarter around 6:30 p.m. As two of the officers approached the apartment, there was an exchange of gunfire with a suspect.

One of the officers was struck by gunfire and later died at Regional Hospital. The officer’s name has not yet been released.

Terre Haute Police Chief John Plasse was overcome by emotion while addressing the media about the shooting.

“This was a fine officer…my friend,” he said. “I don’t want to release his name until we make sure all of his family is notified, but he was a fine officer (emotional) that was going towards danger to assist his fellow officers in apprehending a homicide suspect today.”

“The officer was a very brave officer, and he was doing his best to protect all of us, so keep that in mind, keep in your prayers and his family,” said Vigo County Prosecutor Terry Modesitt.

Multiple police agencies, including Indiana State Police, responded to the scene, where they reported the suspect was barricaded inside a residence. About an hour later, police said the suspect was injured and detained.

“When that call comes out, that’s literally the worst call you can hear as a police officer, is when a fellow officer, he or she is down. It’s bone-chilling, it’s heartwrenching, it’s just the worst call you can possibly hear,” Watts said.

Police said at a press conference Friday night that the suspect was struck in the shootout and was also deceased. The suspect’s name also has not been released, though police confirmed the shooter was a suspect in the homicide that was being investigated.

“We’re unfortunately seeing this too often where people are engaging with law enforcement and we’re losing our lives and other officers are too in those cases. I would just ask that you keep our officers in your thoughts and prayers,” Plasse said.

The death of the police officer is the first of officer with the Terre Haute Police Department since July 11, 2011. That is when Officer Brent D. Long was killed while serving an arrest warrant with a U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force.

The 34-year-old Long worked for the department for six years.