INDIANAPOLIS – The city of Southport has never seen anything like the unexplained shooting of police Lt. Aaron Allan Thursday afternoon.
Allan was shot and killed while responding to the scene of a crash near the intersection of Madison Avenue and Maynard Drive in Homecroft around 3 p.m. Thursday.
A witness at the scene said the driver was upside down in the vehicle when he began firing at Lt. Allan. That witness described hearing "at least 20" shots fired.
Allan was rushed to Eskenazi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from his injuries.
FULL STORY | Southport Police Lt. Aaron Allan killed in shooting in Homecroft
Prior to Thursday, Southport had never lost a police officer in the line of duty in the more than 160 years since the city was first platted, based on records kept by the Officer Down Memorial Page.
Violent crime as a whole only makes up a small minority of calls within Southport’s city limits. Between Jan. 1 and July 28 of this year, Southport police only filed 23 reports classified as an “offense against person.” Of those, 16 were for battery, along with two each for intimidation, resisting law enforcement and strangulation, and just one report of pointing a firearm.
We don't do a lot of violent crime stories in #Southport because it's pretty rare: Only about 13% of all incidents so far this year. pic.twitter.com/2Ayxci95Dx
— Jordan Fischer (@Jordan_RTV6) July 28, 2017
On Thursday alone, IMPD officers responded to 19 reported assaults.
Even the surrounding area shows low numbers for violent incidents. An analysis by RTV6 of a 1-mile area extending from the center of Southport – roughly Southport Elementary School – found 774 incident reports filed by police so far this year. Of those, only 91 – or 11 percent – were for offenses against a person. The most common crimes were thefts from motor vehicles and driving while suspended, with battery, the only violent crime in the top five, ranked third.
Even in the surrounding area, you just don't see violent crime numbers like the urban core. Much more common: Car break-ins. pic.twitter.com/LW74rH55yw
— Jordan Fischer (@Jordan_RTV6) July 28, 2017
And while Indianapolis has broken 70 criminal homicides so far this year, Southport hasn't recorded any murders within city limits, although three people have been murdered a short distance west:
The man identified by police as Allan’s suspected shooter – 28-year-old Jason Brown, a tattoo artist and father of a 3-year-old boy – was taken to Eskenazi Hospital for treatment following the crash. On Friday, police said Brown had been released from the hospital pending a decision on charges.
The impetus for the shooting remains unknown.
FULL STORY | Who is Jason Brown? Woman who’s known him his whole life says shooting suspect is ‘shy, timid’
MORE FROM THE CRIME BEAT | The ‘Grundy Crew’ has a long history in Indianapolis. It may have caught up with them. | PC: Man murdered over missing drugs belonging to the ‘Mexican Mafia’ | Why are .40-calibers surging in Indy as crime guns? | Message written in blood leads IMPD to murder suspect | MAP: 2017 Indianapolis Homicides
