TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Authorities have ruled that a western Indiana police officer was justified in fatally shooting a 42-year-old man who was threatening him with a knife earlier this month.
The Vigo County prosecutor announced Tuesday that a Terre Haute police officer acted appropriately after responding to a domestic violence call on Dec. 1 and heard a woman screaming inside the house. Officer Adam Noel kicked in the door and saw the man coming toward him with a knife.
A state police investigation determined the officer ordered the man to drop the knife seven times, with the man replying "shoot me" and "kill me" while still coming toward Noel, Prosecutor Terry Modesitt said.
(NOTE: State police released the identity of the man Thursday afternoon, however 13News is not naming him in this story, as doing so could also identify the victim in the case.)
"Unfortunately, [the man's] refusal to drop the knife and his approach of Officer Noel put both the officer and another person in immediate risk of death or serious bodily injury," Modesitt said in a statement.
The officer fired three shots, with two of them hitting the man, the prosecutor said.
The woman attacked by the man suffered eight stab wounds and was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
