FLOYD COUNTY — Criminal charges have been filed against a man who police now say killed his own wife and another person in a gas station parking lot, fled officers, then took a hostage at gunpoint and tried to hit officers with a car.
Cherok A. Douglass, 37, of New Albany, Ind., is currently being held at Floyd County Jail on two counts of murder and one count each of attempted murder, kidnapping while hijacking a vehicle and robbery resulting in serious bodily injuries. All charges are felonies.
Cherok Douglass was shot by responding officers with the New Albany Police Department and Floyd County Sheriff's Department when he tried to run officers over with an SUV he had forced a woman hostage into, according to Indiana State Police. ISP investigated the shooting.
Police first responded at about 10 a.m. Monday for a double-homicide at a Circle K gas station at Beechwood and Grant Line roads. There, they found two victims, later identified as Cherok Douglass' wife, Brandee Kay Douglass, 38, and Lorin M. Yelle, 48, of Louisville, Ky.
RELATED | New Albany double homicide suspect, victims named
ISP said Yelle had no connection to either Brandee or Cherok Douglass and was a customer at the gas station. She was shot as she was exiting the store.
Officers then saw a suspect, later identified as Cherok Douglass, fleeing in an SUV. They chased the suspect onto Charlestown Road, north of Interstate 265, where Douglass stopped at
a local restaurant and at gunpoint took a woman as a hostage.
He then forced the woman into the SUV. At one point, the woman fell from the vehicle, at which point he tried to run over officers. It was then officers opened fire, wounding him. He was transported with non-life-threatening injuries to a university hospital in Louisville.
Cherok Douglass was extradited from Kentucky on Wednesday, ISP said. An initial court appearance has not yet been scheduled on his behalf.
Autopsies for the victims are scheduled for next Monday.
-
High-stakes Peach Bowl between Indiana and Oregon tonight
The College Football Playoff semifinal at the Peach Bowl is a celebration of the Big Ten's strength with No. 1-seed Indiana facing No. 5-seed Oregon.
Protest in downtown Indy demands justice for Renee Nicole Good
From Minneapolis to Indianapolis, crowds on Monument Circle had a clear message Thursday night: they’d like to see justice Renee Nicole Good and ICE off our streets.
Pacers beat Hornets 114-112 to end 13-game skid, give Carlisle 1,000th win
A 114-112 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday night that snapped the Pacers' 13-game skid and finally gave coach Rick Carlisle his 1,000th career win.
GM Ballard plans to spend offseason finding solutions to Colts late-season woes
Instead, Ballard said he intends to spend this offseason finding solutions for Indy's continual late-season failures.
