Corydon man dead in police shooting at Walmart just released on probation

Libby Cunningham, The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
·4 min read

Oct. 12—CLARKSVILLE — Indiana court records show the man shot and killed by a Clarksville police officer after brandishing a machete Monday night at the Walmart on Veterans Parkway had been sentenced to probation in Harrison County last week.

According to court records, Daniel Francis Scott, 30, of Corydon, had taken a plea deal in a fraud case on Oct. 5. On Oct. 6 he was sentenced to probation.

Indiana State Police Detective Matt Busick said employees of the store notified officers from the Clarksville Police Department of a suspicious male inside the store on Veterans Parkway around 11:15 p.m.

The store closed at 11 p.m. and Scott refused requests to leave the store, authorities said. Police said he appeared to have "severe lacerations to the neck."

Three Clarksville officers were outside the store on an unrelated investigation and immediately responded. They saw Scott walking around inside the store.

Police said that based on information and video gathered at the scene, detectives believe "Daniel Scott brandished a machete-style knife when approached and charged toward an officer. That officer fired his department handgun, striking Daniel Scott."

ISP said police began life-saving measures and called for an ambulance. Scott was taken to Clark Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Police said they believe the lacerations on Scott's neck were likely self-inflicted. They also said Scott took both a razor and machete from the store, before being asked to leave.

There have been at least four other fatal police shootings in the area since 2019. In each instance, police reports said the deceased had a weapon and refused to drop it before officers fired.

Max David Helton, 43, died in a Clarksville police shooting in April 2019, after a domestic disturbance at 514 Howard St.

Police said they were called to the home and saw Helton with a gun at the doorway. He then retreated into the house and barricaded himself and the original caller in the residence. Police encountered him again and he was still brandishing a handgun that he refused to drop after police told him to. At least one Clarksville police officer fired at Helton.

Police then began aid and Helton was taken to University of Louisville Hospital before being pronounced dead. Clark County Prosecutor Jeremy Mull's investigation into the incident concluded the officer's use of force was justified.

Justin Moore, of Owensboro, Kentucky, was shot and killed by a Palmyra police officer in May, after officials said he fired a weapon multiple times at authorities. The authorities responded to a call about a stranded motorist near an elementary school in Harrison County. Harrison County Prosecutor Otto Schalk said the officer was justified in his actions and that Moore had fired a shotgun at both the officer and a volunteer firefighter at the scene first.

The firefighter, Jacob Tyler McClanahan, was struck by a bullet from Moore's gun and died from his injuries.

A Clarksville man, Malcolm Williams, was shot and killed by an ISP trooper in Jeffersonville in April 2020. Clark County Prosecutor Mull said in July 2020 that the officer was justified in using deadly force in the case. ISP's account of the case said Williams fired three rounds at an ISP trooper before the gunfire was returned.

Williams' family is disputing the police account of the incident and filed a federal lawsuit in 2020 that said he was handing the officer the gun when he produced it and that he didn't fire it.

In July 2019 two Salem City police officers shot and killed Mark A. Naugle, 53, Scottsburg, on fairgrounds property after they said he charged at them with a hammer and refused to put down the hammer. Washington County Prosecutor Dustin Houchin said the officer was justified in this case.

That same month police shot Stephen E. Fischer, 62, Charlestown, at a Love's rest stop in Memphis. A preliminary investigation found that Clark County Sheriff's Office deputies saw a man, later identified as Fischer, fire a pistol into the pavement of the parking lot at Love's.

An Indiana State Police news release said once officers were on the scene they first attempted to mitigate the situation before firing. Officers from Charlestown, Clark County, ISP, Indiana Department of Natural Resources and Sellersburg police were all on scene during the incident. At the time ISP said it wasn't clear who fired the shot.

There have been at least two non-fatal police shootings in Floyd County since 2019.