Another senseless murder of a police officer has occurred, though the details are still sketchy.
The tragic story unfolded yesterday at 3 p.m. when Southport Ind., Police Lt. Aaron Allan responded to a report of a vehicle that had flipped over onto a lawn. As he approached the overturned car, one of the occupants opened fire, striking him several times and wounding him fatally.
According to the Indianapolis Star, Allan was accompanied by a second officer from a different police department, who returned fire, wounding the shooter.
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That man was identified this morning as Jason Brown, 28, of Indianapolis. He was arrested on a preliminary murder charge.
County records show that Brown was convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession in 2014 and sentenced to 30 days in jail. He also has four traffic citations.
It is still unclear what prompted Brown to shoot at the officers, though according to an eyewitness interviewed by reporters, the car was traveling at an excessively high speed. This could suggest that the occupants were fleeing something, perhaps the scene of a crime.
Incidentally, in case you didn’t find the story sufficiently tragic, know that the Southport Police Department is a force of about 30 officers who are unpaid volunteers. Know also that Lt. Allan was married and has a son in the third grade.
The Southport Police Department is understandably in shock. Chief of Police Thomas Vaughn remarked during a news conference at the hospital where Allan died:
He responded to a crash with urgency to preserve life. Tragically, his was lost.
This is a developing story. Updates will be added as new information becomes available.
