LAWRENCE, Indiana — IMPD SWAT was serving a warrant on Aug. 23 when they shot and killed 40-year-old Kentrail Small at a hotel in Lawrence.
Small was wanted for failure to appear on a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge out of Hancock County.
According to court documents, Small was a passenger in a car that was stopped on June 24, 2023 in Greenfield. The officer said Small admitted to smoking marijuana and having it with him. The driver of the car also had a handgun that appears to have been legally hers.
Searching the car, police found two baggies of marijuana. Small was issued a summons arrest to appear in court for misdemeanor marijuana possession.
Small did not make his court date, and on Aug. 17, 2023, a warrant was issued for his arrest. But IMPD says that wasn't the warrant that led to the shooting.
(NOTE: the video at the top of this story is from the day of the shooting.)
Around 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, an IMPD SWAT team served a warrant at a motel in the 9000 block of Pendleton Pike in Lawrence.
In a statement after the shooting, police said they were there "to locate a wanted adult male suspect, who was known to be armed and dangerous and in possession of narcotics."
IMPD told 13News that the SWAT team didn't know that Small was in the hotel. They were there to perform a search warrant for the room, and didn't know who was inside.
"We would never use the SWAT team on a misdemeanor warrant," said Lt. Patterson with IMPD.
Police say they identified themselves and called for people in the motel room to come out. When they didn't, SWAT officers broke into the motel room. A man and woman were coming out of the bathroom at the same time. Police say the woman surrendered, but the man grabbed a gun. Police shot the man, who died at the hospital.
The Marion County Coroner's Office identified him as Small on Monday, Aug. 26.
IMPD officers were wearing body cameras. IMPD policy is to release edited body camera video within 30 days of a police shooting.
Small had one prior conviction that 13News has been able to confirm. In 2002, Small pleaded guilty to unarmed robbery in Flint, Michigan. He was 18 years old. Court documents related to his Indiana misdemeanor charge cited two past drug possession cases, but 13News has not found any convictions related to them.