Police officer, suspect fatally shot at Terre Haute apartment complex
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WISH) – As police were going toward an apartment building on Friday night to investigate a homicide, shots rang out.
When the gunfire stopped, a Terre Haute police officer and an acquaintance of the homicide victim were dead, authorities said. That acquaintance was the suspected gunman in the earlier homicide and the suspected killer of the police officer.
The officer died after he was taken to Terre Haute Regional Hospital.
The officer was identified Saturday as Patrolmen Rob Pitts, a 16-year veteran of the department.
The Friday night shooting began about 6:32 p.m. as Terre Haute Police Department went to Linwood Street in The Garden Quarter apartment complex as part of their investigation of the homicide on South 18th Street in the city.
Sgt. Joe Watts, a public information officer for the state police, had said the homicide suspect was barricaded in the apartment building and a female who had also been inside was eventually out.
Later, Watts said, the suspect was found injured in the apartment building.
Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter was at the scene. State police will investigate the Friday night shooting.
Terre Haute police will investigate the earlier homicide. In a Friday night news conference, police declined to provide more information about the earlier homicide, including when it happened, but spoke instead about the outpouring of support they had received for the who officer died.
A Terre Haute police spokesman, Officer Ryan Adamson, said on Twitter, “We sincerely appreciate all the kind messages. We are deeply saddened by the loss of our officer, and ask that you keep our entire community in your prayers. @THPolice1.”
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department posted a tweet of an American flag with a blue line through it. The tweet read: “The IMPD family stands with @THPolice1, as the news has broke that the officer has succumbed to their injuries. We are saddened by the loss of one close to home. Please say a prayer for the officer’s family, friends, and law enforcement family as they navigate tragedy. #LODD”
Wayne Township Fire Department tweeted this message: “Very sad to hear a @THPolice1 Officer has been shot and killed this evening. Keep the fallen officers family and Law Enforcement in Vigo County in your thoughts.”
The Marion County Sheriff’s Department tweeted: “Our hearts are broken for the men and women of the @THPolice1 for the loss of their officer who was shot and killed today in the line of duty. We are praying for his family, friends, colleagues, and community.”
A tweet from Speedway Police Department said, “Thoughts are with the family, friends & colleagues of the @THPolice1 officer killed in the line of duty. Pray for all the public safety personnel involved in this tragic incident #ThinBlueLine”
The death is the first in the line of duty by an 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.
