WHITESTOWN, Ind. — New court documents detail the weeks of investigation leading to the arrest of two suspects in an interstate road rage shooting near Whitestown.
On July 3, Boone County deputies responded to a report of a semi truck that had swerved off Interstate 65 and crashed onto Perry Worth Road near the exit to Whitestown Parkway.
Police later discovered the driver of the semi had been shot in a suspected road rage incident. That man suffered a traumatic brain injury, is paralyzed on the right side of his body and has been left nonverbal.
Witnesses told police a dark-colored sedan had been brake-checking the semi before pulling along side it. A single shot was fired from the passenger window.
Police then started pulling security video from nine businesses along the stretch of I-65 near the scene, along with video from police cars and body cameras of four different police agencies involved in the investigation.
After viewing video that partially captured what unfolded, investigators turned to license plate readers on the interstate to identify the suspect's car and track its movements after the shooting.
Police ran the car's registration, leading them to James O. Brown.
On July 22, officers went to the dealership where the suspect's car was sold. Employees told detectives the car has a GPS monitor on it, because it has a lien on it.
The next day, police retrieved the GPS data tracking the car's movements.
On July 25, Brown was taken into custody at his job. While he was detained at the police station, other officers were searching his car and his home.
During the search, police say they recovered a handgun matching the description of the suspect's weapon and ammunition that matched a shell casing recovered at the crime scene.
When police interviewed Brown, he said he saw the crash, but could not recall too many details for police. As the questioning continued about the shooting, court documents reveal Brown asked police, "Are we talking about murder, or are we talking about injury?"
Court documents suggest Brown then admitted to being in the car with his wife, Kendra Johnson-Brown, in the driver's seat.
Firearm testing later revealed the gun recovered from their home had a high probability of being a match to the gun involved in the crime.
James Brown now faces charges including attempted murder and aggravated battery. His wife is charged with aggravated battery.