Crime & Safety
Suspect In Indiana Standoff Wore Body Armor
The two-day standoff began after a man fled following a shooting that killed one person and wounded another.
TERRE HAUTE, IN — Authorities say a man shot dead by an Indiana State Police tactical team, ending a two-day standoff, was wearing body armor and had told acquaintances that he wanted a shootout with officers.
The suspect made threatening gestures before he was shot, and he died at the scene, State Police Sgt. Joe Watts said. The man's name wasn't immediately released.
The standoff ended shortly after noon Tuesday, or nearly 20 hours after it started.
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"We received a lot of information from acquaintances and people that had talked to him that this is exactly what he wanted, a shootout with police," Terre Haute police Chief John Plasse said.
Plasse says acquaintances of the man told investigators "that this is exactly what he wanted, a shootout with police."
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The man was wearing body armor when he was shot, police spokesman Officer Ryan Adamson said.
The suspect fatally shot 40-year-old Amanda Kerns and seriously wounded a man at a home in Terre Haute, about 70 miles west of Indianapolis, Adamson said. The wounded man's name hasn't been released.
The suspect then fled to a second home about 2 miles away, where police caught up with him about 4:30 p.m. Monday.
The man shot at police but didn't hit anyone, Adamson said.
Two city SWAT teams that kept watch on the house overnight were relieved Tuesday morning by state police, Adamson said.
Vigo County Prosecutor Terry Modesitt said the suspect knocked over a police robot sent in to observe him inside the second home Monday night.
"We saw him moving on the bed" before he knocked over the robot, Modesitt said.
Investigators believe the man slipped away undetected before midnight and went to a third residence about two blocks away, where police located him shortly before he was shot, Watts said.
In this Monday, March 5, 2018 photo, Terre Haute Police officers investigate the scene of a shooting that led to a standoff with the armed suspect in Terre Haute, Ind. A police standoff entered its second day Tuesday outside a home where a shooting suspect is holed up. (Austen Leake/The Tribune-Star via AP)