By Bill Ruthhart, Indianapolis Star
A three-county chase that lasted more than an hour ended in the shooting death of a Lebanon man when, police say, he pointed what turned out to be a pellet gun at officers after he fled his Saturn.
The shooting occurred at 5:40 a.m. Sunday along I-74 outside Crawfordsville. Ryan D. Amend, 20, was shot once and pronounced dead at St. Clare Medical Center in Crawfordsville.
A Lebanon police officer tried to pull Amend over at 4:39 a.m. on Ind. 39 in Lebanon after he was clocked for speeding, said Lt. Brent Wheat of the Lebanon Police Department. Amend, who was driving a red Saturn, refused to stop, and officers said he led police on a chase south on Ind. 39 out of Lebanon and southbound onto I-65.
The pursuit then continued south on Ind. 267 before heading westbound on I-74. The chase ended where I-74 crosses over Ind. 47 northeast of Crawfordsville. Police said Amend faced no outstanding warrants.
Amend, who Wheat said was armed with a gun and a knife, ran his car through several tire-deflation devices, which were deployed by the State Police and the Boone County Sheriff’s Department. He was driving on his wheel rims when he came to a stop along I-74.
He then ran into an open field along the highway and pointed his gun at Lebanon Police Officers Tyson Warmoth, 39, and Jeff Nelson, 28.
Each officer fired once at the man. He suffered one gunshot wound, but police declined to say where he was hit. Only after the shooting did officers realize he had a pellet gun, which uses compressed air to fire a small projectile. The weapons are similar to BB guns, paintball guns and air rifles and typically are considered less dangerous than standard firearms but still capable of inflicting serious injury.
Police did not know why Amend was running from them.