Dennis Fishburn to face son's alleged shooter

The trial for the man accused of trying to murder IMPD Officer Jason Fishburn begins Monday.

Sgt. Dennis Fishburn talked about the day he will walk into court and face Brian Reese, the man accused of trying to kill his son. Sgt. Fishburn is a 28-year veteran of IMPD, he is also the father of Jason Fishburn, nearly gunned down last year.

Dennis Fishburn said going to court has been a long time coming.

"The family has waited for justice in this matter. So we're looking forward to this opportunity to go and let the trial take place and let justice be served,” said Dennis.

Jason Fishburn, still recovering, will be the first witness on the stand.

Dennis said this is an emotional time for Jason with the trial now less than a week away.

He said, “Jason’s doing great. I can’t express enough how grateful he is to be a living hero. He is doing well.”

Jason will take the stand but, his father said, “He doesn’t remember anything that happened but I think that's one of the reasons they want to clarify that. He's OK with it.”

Dennis said it will be emotional to walk into the courtroom with the same person accused of shooting his son. But he said he'll remain positive.

"We have a living hero and not a dead one,” said Dennis.

Fishburn explained it will be difficult to separate his role as both an officer and a father.

He said “I’ll be wearing two hats. As a police officer you want justice but as a father you have great compassion. Those two are a fine line.”

A fine line held firm by the bond of the thin blue line of being an officer.

The accused shooter, Brian Reese, will be tried in Porter County rather than Marion County because of pre-trial publicity.