By Ken de la Bastide
The Herald Bulletin
ELWOOD, Ind. — The Elwood police officer shot to death Sunday never had the opportunity to exit his vehicle following a routine traffic stop.
Carl Roy Webb Boards II, 42, of Anderson, has been charged with murder in the shooting death of Elwood Police Officer Noah Shahnavaz.
He is being held at the Hamilton County jail since his Sunday arrest and will continue to be housed there for safekeeping.
Boards appeared Monday for his initial court appearance through a video appearance from the Hamilton County jail on charges of murder with a firearm enhancement, two counts of resisting law enforcement, unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious convicted felony and being a habitual offender.
Following the initial hearing, Prosecutor Rodney Cummings said the death penalty is still being considered.
“We still have to talk to the family and couldn’t file the death penalty on this short notice,” he said. “We still have work to do.”
Cummings said Shahnavaz was able to call dispatch with a description of the vehicle and then indicated Boards “had a gun” before shots are heard.
He said Boards was armed with an AK-47 assault weapon with a magazine containing 75 rounds.
Cummings said Boards fired 36 rounds, several shots fired through the windshield of the patrol car, at least two bullets striking the officer in the head and several gunshot wounds to the body.
“There is no way to describe the pain this community is facing,” Cummings said of the death of Shahnavaz. “This has struck our community extremely hard.”
The probable cause affidavit filed by Indiana State Police Detective Richard Clay said Boards declined to make a statement.
When officers contacted Boards’ mother and father, they said he did contact them through FaceTime while fleeing law enforcement.
During the initial hearing before Madison Circuit Court Division 3 Judge Andrew Hopper, Boards said he has a Bachelor’s degree and works as a barber.
Boards said he had no money to hire an attorney and a public defender Joe Duepner was appointed.
Judge Hopper set a pre-trial conference for Sept. 30.
The court document states officers found a 9mm handgun on Boards at the time of his arrest and a black rifle on the driver’s seat of his vehicle.
The documents said Boards owns a barber shop in Marion and a witness told investigators that Boards made a recorded song making statements that if he was “ever caught by police that he would kill them.”
Just after 2 a.m., Shahnavaz stopped a 2012 Buick LaCrosse near the intersection of Indiana 37 and County Road 1100 North. Police have not provided a reason for the traffic stop.
Officers from Elwood and Madison County found the wounded Shahnavaz and administered life-saving measures until medical personnel arrived.
Shahnavaz was taken by ambulance to Ascension St. Vincent Mercy Hospital in Elwood and later flown by helicopter to an Indianapolis-area hospital, where he died.
Just after 2:30 a.m., Hamilton County officers located the Buick and attempted a traffic stop. The Buick continued southbound on Indiana 37. Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies pursued the Buick and deployed a tire-deflation device near the area of Indiana 37 and 146th Street.
The Buick continued southbound on Indiana 37 toward Interstate 69. While on I-69, Fishers police employed two “precision immobilization techniques.” After the second attempt, the Buick struck a median barrier wall. Officers took Boards into custody without further incident.
Criminal record
Boards was sentenced to a 25-year prison term in 2006 for shooting at Indianapolis police officers.
He was released by the Indiana Department of Correction in August 2019.
According to a response to an appeal filed on behalf of Boards, Boards pointed a .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun at two Indianapolis police officers who had attempted to pull him over for not using a turn signal on Nov. 30, 2006.
The court documents show Boards fired seven times, and three bullets hit one of the officer’s IMPD squad cars.
His appeal, which was denied, shows two weapons were found in his Suburban: “a Taurus .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun on the front seat and an AK-47-style assault rifle with a loaded drum magazine on the floor of the driver’s side.”
Boards was originally charged with attempted murder, possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, three counts of resisting law enforcement, possession of a schedule I controlled substance (ecstasy), and carrying a handgun without a license.
In August 2007, a jury found Boards guilty of criminal recklessness, two counts of resisting law enforcement, possession of ecstasy, and carrying a handgun without a license.
He was not convicted by a jury on a charge of attempted murder.
Boards was found guilty in September, 2007 on the following charges: unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, a class C felony enhancement to the carrying a handgun without a license conviction, and the habitual offender allegation.
A Marion County Judge ordered the sentences to be served concurrently for a total of 25 years.
According to the Department of Corrections database, Boards’ sentence for criminal recklessness ended on August 21, 2011. He was detained for an additional 8 years on the conviction for his possession of a deadly weapon charge, which ran consecutively to his criminal recklessness charge.
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(c)2022 The Herald Bulletin (Anderson, Ind.)
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