 On November 18th, at 12:22 a.m., Evansville Central Dispatch received a call from the Evansville Regional Airport for a disorderly subject inside the lobby. The caller stated that the male was threatening airport personnel, he had an approximate 4-inch knife, and was using it to tear up furniture. Members of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana State Police and the Evansville Police Department arrived on scene. They encountered the adult male suspect in the lobby area inside the airport and he was holding a knife. No one else was in the immediate area at that time.Â
A Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Deputy, who is also a Negotiator, was one of the first to arrive. The Deputy attempted to gain rapport with the suspect by negotiating for nearly 15 minutes. The suspect stated he was upset about his status in Evansville and wanted to go back to his country.Â
During negotiations, numerous commands were given for the suspect to drop the knife. On several occasions, the suspect yelled at the officers to just shoot him. The suspect never dropped the knife and at one point, he put the tip of the knife to his head and made a stabbing motion. The suspect escalated the situation when he yelled obscenities at the officers, jumped out of his seat, and aggressively moved towards officers with the knife in hand.Â
Between EPD, VCSO and ISP, less lethal tools were on scene. Due to the suspect escalating the situation, lethal force and less lethal force were utilized at the same time. Three Evansville Police Officers fired their duty weapons. Members of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office and Indiana State Police also fired their weapons.Â
Life-saving measures were quickly rendered to the suspect on scene prior to AMR arrival. The suspect was transported by AMR to a local hospital for treatment. At this time, the suspect is in critical condition and still receiving treatment. No officers were injured during the incident. The suspect’s name and pending charges will be released at a later time.Â
Per protocol, all three EPD Officers were taken to the hospital for blood draw and the EPD Peer Support Team was called in to assist the officers. All three officers will be placed on Administrative Leave during the investigation, which is also protocol.Â
A press conference will likely be held on Monday, November 20th, to discuss further details about this investigation. The location and time of the press conference will be announced on Monday morning.Â
