FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA, Ind. — A man who was walking with a small child outside in the bitter cold early Friday shot at a southeastern Indiana sheriff's deputy who returned fire and wounded him, state police said.
At least one bullet struck the Franklin County deputy's body armor, protecting him from injury, state police Sgt. Stephen Wheeles said. The wounded man was taken to a Cincinnati hospital, while the child wasn't hurt in the shooting but was evaluated for cold weather exposure, Wheeles said.
After the shooting involving the deputy, police went to a nearby home on Colonial Heights Road for a related welfare check. Police found a woman inside the home who was badly injured with a possible gunshot wound. She was also taken to a Cincinnati hospital for treatment.
The deputy found the man and child along a rural section of Indiana 1 soon after midnight following a call about them walking amid temperatures near zero along the highway about 30 miles northwest of Cincinnati, according to Wheeles. The deputy reported he was trying to speak with the man when he pulled a gun and fired it at the deputy.
Information about the condition of the wounded man and woman wasn't immediately released, aside from police saying the woman appeared to have "serious injuries" when she was found.
The names of those wounded were being withheld Friday, Wheeles said. Police didn't release information about the relationship between those wounded and the child. The child is being looked after and receiving additional care from the Indiana Department of Child Services.
According to the Franklin County Sheriff, the deputy will be placed on administrative leave per normal protocol.
Franklin County is roughly 75 miles southeast of downtown Indianapolis.
