Silke Jasso
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A police officer died after being shot multiple times while responding to a traffic crash on the south side of Indianapolis, authorities said Thursday.
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Lt. Aaron Allan of the Southport Police Department was responding to a call about a crash with people trapped inside a vehicle Thursday afternoon when he was shot, Sgt. Kendale Adams of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department told reporters at a news conference. Allan died at Eskenazi Hospital, Adams said.
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“Shots were fired by one of the vehicle’s occupants, striking the Southport lieutenant,” Adams said.
Two other officers at the scene, including one who was off-duty at the time, returned fire, striking a person inside the vehicle, Adams said. That person and a second person injured in the crash were hospitalized and in custody with non-life-threatening injuries. Police did not release their names or discuss a motive for the shooting.
Allan was a six-year veteran of the Southport department, an enclave of Indianapolis, and had nearly 20 years of law enforcement experience, Southport Police Chief Thomas Vaughn said.
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“Lieutenant Allan was a hard worker, and today was no different. He responded to a crash with urgency to preserve life. Tragically, his was lost,” Vaughn said at the news conference.
On Thursday night, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett called Allan’s death “a shocking and tragic reminder of the difficult, often dangerous work of police officers.” He said the community grieves for the Allan family.
