AVON, Ind. -- Two deputies involved in a fatal shooting in Avon have been cleared of any wrongdoing.
Two Hendricks County sheriff's deputies won't face charges after a man lunged at them with a knife in November. A reserve officer with the department fired one shot, striking and killing Bradley King. Investigators ruled the deputies were within their rights to protect themselves.
The shooting happened around 2:50 p.m. on Nov. 29 at a home in the 1200 block of Sheffield Drive, near the intersection of County Road 100 North and Avon Avenue.
King had called 911 dispatchers multiple times earlier in the day, saying repeatedly he'd dialed the wrong number. He also told a dispatcher an officer needed to come to his residence because he was “going through a little psycho phase," according to the Hendricks County Sheriff's Office.
When the dispatcher attempted to verify the address of the caller, he responded “actually, I’m fine. You know what, I’m fine. I’ve been taking medicine.”
The dispatcher attempted to verify the name of the caller and he verbally identified himself as Brad Grout. He then told the dispatcher that “It’s fine” and hung up on.
At that time, the dispatcher sent Deputies Jeffrey Hughes and Jason Hays to the address on Sheffield Drive for a welfare check. At that time, deputies were not able to make contact with anyone at the residence and they returned in service.
Later in the day, the Hendricks County Communications center reported it received three more hang up 911 calls from the same address. They did not have communication with anyone during those calls, however, they generated a run requesting a welfare check based on the conversation they had with “Brad Grout” earlier and the additional hang up 911 calls.
Below is the full investigative report from the Hendricks County Sheriff's Office:
Deputy Jeremy Thomas was dispatched to the residence at approximately 2:31pm. He and Deputy Jason Hays arrive on the scene at approximately 2:42 pm. Getting no response at the front of the residence, the deputies then went to the back of the house. At the back of the house, the deputies were approached by Bradley King, with his hands in his pockets. King was ordered to remove his hands from his pockets and when he did so he had a 10-inch total length knife in his hand. King was ordered by both deputies to drop the knife. King moved toward the deputies, who in turn, moved away. King then ran toward Deputy Hays, who fired one shot which entered through King’s arm and then into his chest, killing King. The communications center was notified by radio that shots had been fired and a request was made for medics.
The investigation determined that the approximate distance between Deputy Hays and Bradley King at the time of the shot was between 9 feet 7 inches and 11 feet 5 inches. The autopsy report showed that death resulted from a single shot entering the arm and then going into the chest, in such a way that the arm would have been raised at the time the shot was fired. The facts of this case have been reviewed by Prosecutor Patricia Baldwin who determined that Deputy Hays fired once to stop the threat and no criminal action is warranted against Deputy Hays or Deputy Thomas. The incident has also been reviewed by the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Department Firearms Review Board. The board decided that Deputy Jason Hays’ use of deadly force was necessary to stop the threat.
Sheriff Clark is committed to working with the community and other criminal justice stakeholders to address the issues around mental illness and law enforcement interaction. We are in the planning stages of hosting a CIT training course and are sending five supervisors to a course in Indianapolis in February. For more information on the CIT model visit the NAMI website at http://www.namiindiana.org/
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