An off-duty sheriff's deputy fatally shot an armed man in Indiana after he ignored commands to drop a rifle and pointed the weapon at officers, police said.
Vigo County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday afternoon to a home south of Terre Haute for a welfare check on a suicidal male, Indiana State Police said.
An off-duty Vigo County deputy joined them and tried to communicate with the man, who was in distress, police said. After an on-deputy noticed the man had guns in his possession, he provided his off-duty colleague with a department-issued service rifle because that deputy had arrived at the scene unarmed.
When the deputies ordered the man to drop a rifle he was holding, the man ignored those commands and pointed it at the officers, prompting the off-duty deputy to fire one shot, striking the man, police said.
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The man, who police identified as James Dockery, 45, of Terre Haute, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The off-duty deputy, a 10-year veteran of the sheriff's department, has been placed on administrative leave — a routine step following shootings involving police officers.
Indiana State Police said the agency is investigating the fatal shooting.
