Two dead in Lafayette police action shooting

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI/ WISH) - Lafayette police confirm two bodies were removed from the scene of a police-involved shooting on the city’s far east side early Friday morning. 

Investigators said it started late Thursday night in the parking lot of IHOP on Ind. 26 East. Police were called to the scene on a report of a person being held against his will at gunpoint.

When officers arrived, they found the suspect and the victim had left the area in a silver Dodge pickup truck. Officers also found blood on the pavement where the truck was parked.

Police tracked the truck to a business less than a mile from IHOP.

Police say the truck drove at the officers and the driver fired a number of shots at the responding officers. One officer fired back. Witnesses told WLFI-TV they heard six to eight gunshots in the Kettle Circle area after they heard a police car come down the road.

After the shots were fired, the suspect vehicle led police on a short pursuit along Kettle Drive and Kettle Circle. The vehicle later crashed into a house in the 100 block of Kettle Circle. Both men inside the truck were found dead inside. A tow truck was called around 4:30 a.m. to pull the pickup from the garage, so that one of the bodies
could be removed.

Lafayette Police late Friday identified both of the men who died following a police action shooting on Thursday night. Deputy Police Chief David Payne said 62-year-old Joel Ray Hershman, of Brook, Indiana, died in the incident. The second man has been identified as Steven Keith Moseley, 46. 

Police said Moseley was believed to be homeless and living in the Lafayette area.