A police officer died after being shot multiple times while responding to a traffic crash on the south side of Indianapolis, authorities said Thursday.
Lt. Aaron Allen of the Southport Police Department was responding to a crash with entrapment Thursday afternoon when he was shot, Sgt. Kendale Adams of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department told reporters at a news conference. Allen died at Eskenazi Hospital, Adams said.
"Shots were fired by one of the vehicle's occupants, striking the Southport lieutenant," Adams said.
U.S. & World
Two other officers at the scene, including one who was off-duty at the time, returned fire, striking a person inside the vehicle, Adams said. That person and a second person injured in the crash were hospitalized and in custody with non-life-threatening injuries. Their names were not immediately released.
Allen was a six-year veteran of the Southport department and had nearly 20 years of law enforcement experience, Southport Police Chief Thomas Vaughn said.
"Lieutenant Allen was a hard worker, and today was no different. He responded to a crash with urgency to preserve life. Tragically, his was lost," Vaughn said at the news conference.
Neighborhood resident Bryan McGary told WXIN-TV said the shooting was unusual for the area.
"It's just hard to believe that this would happen here. I mean I've lived here since 1976 and we really haven't had much. . We do have a lot of policemen in our area that live here so it's just one of those things," McGary said.
Southport is an enclave within the city limits of Indianapolis.
