ANDERSON, Ind. — Indiana State Police is investigating after police fatally shot a man in Anderson Saturday evening.
Just after 9 p.m. June 1, Madison County Sheriff's Department deputies were serving an arrest warrant for a man who violated his probation in the 1600 block of Fairview Street, which is one block south of State Road 32.
When officers arrived, they found the man – later identified by the Madison County coroner as 44-year-old La'Taurus Harrison – inside of a car and gave Harrison several commands to show his hands and get out of the vehicle.
According to police, Harrison "disobeyed 26 loud, verbal commands, drew a handgun from his pocket and raised that handgun toward deputies." These verbal commands included, "Get your hand out of your pocket, you're going to get shot!"
Court documents say four-year veteran Deputy Mason Brizendine fired 10 shots in four seconds after he allegedly saw Harrison reach for his pocket and pull out a handgun and raise it toward deputies.
The body-worn camera on Brizendine's chest was angled too low to capture the initial moment Harrison reached for his gun. However, the handgun can be seen several frames later as the gun is raised.
Deputies began performing CPR and continued lifesaving measures until an ambulance arrived, which took Harrison to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The sheriff's office confirmed no officers were injured in the shooting, and Brizendine was the only deputy who fired their weapon.
Brizendine is on paid administrative leave, which is department protocol following a police-involved shooting.
Deputies applied for a search warrant for the vehicle Harrison was in, where deputies said they found a handgun loaded with five rounds of ammunition, as well as a box of additional ammunition and a large knife.
Following the investigation, Madison County prosecutors determined "law enforcement was justified in using deadly force as self-defense and the defense of others," and no criminal charges were filed against Brizendine.
Harrison's family released a statement in response to the report Tuesday evening, saying they were not contacted by the prosecutor's office during the investigation. Family members also called for the release of the full body camera video from the shooting, "not just handpicked body camera that does not show a clear picture of the incident, as we were told that was supposed to be released."
The family also said Harrison did not deserve to die the way he did.
"La’Taurus or any other human being in this world does not deserve 10 deadly gunshots wounds for potentially being disobedient in their eyes," the family said.
Court records show a warrant for Harrison's arrest was issued May 30 for probation violations on a 2021 domestic violence case. In that case, Harrison pleaded guilty to strangulation, domestic battery and sexual battery.
Harrison was serving two years probation. Court records say Harrison violated probation in multiple ways, including violating a no-contact order by sending text messages for almost a year to the victim of his crimes.
According to court records, Harrison failed a lie detector test in May about his internet use.