Thursday, April 17, 2014

Two IMPD Officers Dead In Murder-Suicide

A narcotics officer for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has shot and killed his estranged wife, who is also an IMPD officer, this evening in a home on the city's west side before fatally shooting himself according to WTHR.
The IMPD SWAT team was requested to a home in the 2400 block of Inishmore Court around 6:30 p.m. Thursday. That location is near W. 21st Street and Country Club Road.
Eyewitness News has learned that a narcotics officer on the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department reportedly shot and killed his estranged wife, also an IMPD officer, and then turn the gun on himself Thursday evening.
Sources tell Eyewitness News the couple was in the process of a divorce, which he was not taking very well. The shooting happened at the woman's west Indianapolis home on Inishmore Court near W. 21st Street and Country Club Road.
Sources say the narcotics officer cut the home's security system before kicking in a door and shooting his wife.
IMPD has not released the names of the victims at this time. Those who know the female victim say her love for police work spilled over into the family, where she currently has a son on the police department as well.
Mayor Greg Ballard and public safety officials will hold a press conference to address the situation later Thursday evening.
A live press conference is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. The story will be updated following the press conference.

This is a very tragic event. My deepest sympathies to the families of these two officers. I just hope that Mayor Ballard and other self-serving individuals have the common decency not to step in front of the cameras for the purpose of exploiting this tragic event by blaming it on IMPD being under-staffed and telling the public it needs to rally behind their push for a major tax increase this year to support the hiring of 500 additional police officers as they have with other recent, senseless killings that had nothing to do with the number of police officers working for IMPD.

UPDATE: The IMPD officers have been identified as Sgt. Ryan Anders and Officer Kim Carmack. The couple were divorced last year. Karmack reportedly had a protective order against Anders, who allegedly forced his way into his ex-wife's home and shot and killed her before killing himself. Sgt. Anders had been recently placed on administrative leave. Neighbors tell reporters that there had been a number of domestic disturbances involving Anders and Carmack. IMPD Chief Rick Hite said that the department was aware of the situation and had made efforts to keep Carmack and Anders safe. "Forced entry was made," Hite said. "That speaks volumes." In response to a reporter's question, Hite asserted that Sgt. Anders' department-issued equipment, including weapons, had been taken from him following the issuance of the order of protection against him. Hite repeatedly told reporters, "We will not lie to you." WRTV's Rafael Sanchez stated during his questioning of Chief Hite that he had heard from police officers who complained that Hite and the Department had done too little to protect Carmack in light of the threat Anders posed towards her. Hite reiterated that it was still an ongoing investigation without directly addressing Sanchez' question. Hite told reporters that Anders cut the wires to a surveillance camera system outside the home before forcefully entering it. Officer Dustin Carmack is Carmack's son. He was shot in 2011 in the line of duty by a 19-year old gang member.
Officer Kim Carmack

13 WTHR Indianapolis
In an odd twist, a woman on the city's southside shot her husband before turning the gun on her self a short time after the earlier murder-suicide. The couple involved in that attempted murder-suicide in the 7300 block of Jackie Court have not been identified. Anyone else notice that IMPD stopped providing live 911 call data to the Indianapolis Star's website? I'm curious as to what motivated that decision.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope they dont either.

Unknown said...

This lies squarely on the shoulders of RINO Mayor Marine and his RINO henchmen.
Had they worried more about properly staffing the police department, instead of feathering their campaign warchests with money from their high-roller friends, this may never have happened.
Police officers are under an extreme amount of stress due to the shortage of officers and the heavy workload.
But RINO Mayor Marine is more concerned with bike lanes, cricket stadiums, hotels, parking garages, and super bowls.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Mary Roger Bowser...and pic..You inspire many...So does this blog...

Anonymous said...

Koch brothers playing all right...they don't care who get's elected..as long as their right wing manifesto from the 80's moves forward..Teasing electorates and Gov's and more with the promise of election..only promotes their agenda..targeting ymca's and other right wing voters...and using fear to go the right way...

Anonymous said...

WTF does a SWAT team have to respond to such a call? Are the cops so terrified of everything that they have to respond to every last thing with an army?

SWAT teams should not be normalized. The people should not accept SWAT teams, militarized domestic police, as the ordinary police department.

Get off it, Bowser. This has nothing to do with cop staffing. Humans pair bond. Breaking those bonds creates intense emotional pain and psychological suffering, particularly in men.

So much of civilization rests on wives' fidelity.

Chas. M. Navarra said...

MRB- I suspect your comments are shared by far more Indianapolis residents than the powers that be (and that includes the political managers who pull the incumbents' puppet strings) are willing to admit or possibly even care about. Very well stated, MRB. My prayers go out to these families at this devastating time.

Anonymous said...

cop with a gun - trained shooter - I'll take a swat response every time

local businessman said...

I used to be a die hard, knee jerk supporter of the police dept. and no matter what the issue I tended to side with our noble public servants. I even began donating money to the Fraternal Order of Police. And then everything changed. A 16 year old kid crashed his car into my truck in Wannamaker and totaled both vehicles. My elderly parents were passengers and hurt. As gas flowed in the streets we staggered from the truck fearing fire. When the police came, the policeman literally brutalized my elderly, war hero father, who was deaf and had had a stroke, when he found out he had a small weapon on him, for which he held a permit. He demanded the weapon be emptied and given to him. When my Dad asked why he had to surrender his weapon and protested the cop put him up against the hot truck in 90 weather, and really kind of abused him. We were all traumatized by the experience, and it changed me. When guys like me, well educated, affluent, property and business owners in Indianapolis, turn against the police dept it means something is very wrong. And I do believe we have serious problems in our police dept. This murder/suicide of one officer by her officer husband is ugly. And so was the conduct of Officer Bisard. And we all know there is so much more. I believe the average Indianapolis resident now mistrusts the police in a way that would have been unthinkable 30 years ago. And when policemen become murderers it means the whole system is coming apart.

Gary R. Welsh said...

I'm not positive, but I think I recognize Officer Carmack as the very friendly officer who always worked on 16th Street just outside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the day of the race every year directing traffic.

Anonymous said...

Local Businessman:

Good post. Courageous words. It's not just this police department. It's the entire police force across the country.

Police have become an army terrorizing us just as the regular Army terrorized the residents of Fallujah.

Knocking the police power and attitude down to size is the greatest challenge we face in claiming we're a "free country." We really can't say that with a straight face, right now.

Each and every citizen needs to stop respecting police and to again remember that the gun at home isn't for duck hunting; it's to protect the liberty of each man and his neighbor, to keep this country from becoming a tyranny.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 4:07: I suggest you avail yourself of professional mental health services available. Call 211 and let them know "they're coming to get you" and ask if they'll let you try the white jacket with the straps that tie in the back on while help takes you go to "the home" to see the psychologist.

Whosyer said...

The tragedy of this event and the problems IMPD and other police agencies are having, I have to wonder how the alarm system was disabled. As a narcotics officer he was probably aware of and knew how to use counter surveillance techniques. As a previous resident he might have still had primary access codes. Cutting the wires should have sent an alert. Maybe putting tracking devices on people with protective orders against them would be a good idea.

Anonymous said...

To the person who thinks they know about when and why the SWAT Team should be activated: clearly you have no clue what the officers who initially responded knew. Clearly, you have no clue of the history the officers who responded had. And last, CLEARLY you have NEVER been a police officer or care to recognize the reality of the dangers they face daily.
You have NO right to say ANYTHING about a "wife's fidelity" in this case. She did NOTHING wrong. People like you are partially why this world is so messed up. Judge mental people like you who "assume" you're right without the FACTS create more problems than solutions. If you don't know the truth or the facts, keep it to yourself.

Anonymous said...

I am again, absolutely ASTOUNDED by the comments left about this post. Honestly, this tragedy has LITTLE to do with the police department itself.

Let's not lose site of the 2 primary factors involved here.

1.)Indiana has been and remains VERY lax when it comes to issues of domestic violence. The police officers, lawyers, and judicial system remain in complete denial of the fact that domestic violence remains a SERIOUS issue in Indianapolis. When abuse victims report the abuse to the police departments, they are typically waved away. According to much of the Indiana judiciary, when a woman reports abuse, SHE is guilty of "false allegations" until proven truthful (although numerous peer reviewed academic studies show that false allegations of abuse, made by women, are exceedingly rare).

If children are involved and a woman even MENTIONS that she and/or her children were abuse victims, then the woman stands about a 90% chance of losing custody of her children to the abuser, if the abuser files for custody. If this doesn't raise some eyebrows, I don't know what will. In this barometer, we will continue to see more and more of these heinous crimes occur.

http://ssw.umich.edu/about/profiles/saunddan/Custody-Evaluators-Beliefs-About-Domestic-Abuse-Allegations-Final-Tech-Report-to-NIJ-10-31-11.pdf

Bottom line....Indiana courts and law enforcement, much like those in the rest of the world, simply do NOT believe women. I hate to make this a "gender issue" but unfortunately, it is.

2.) Indiana (as does many other states) repeatedly fails to provide adequate mental health care and monitoring. I don't personally know the two deceased. However, in the case of most murder-suicides, there is substantial evidence that the one pulling the trigger has serious psychological issues. Yet, Indiana prefers to present itself as a little Midwestern "Utopia." As citizens, shouldn't we all be standing up and DEMANDING adequate mental health services? Or do Hoosiers simply prefer to live in a constant state of denial, while watching more and more of these unnecessary, tragic deaths occur?