IMPD releases video of officer fatally shooting man holding blade on woman in semi cab
Update: The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department released a critical incident video of the officer-involved shooting on Jan. 3, 2024. The article has been updated with more information provided by the video.
Update: The officer in this case was identified Dec. 7, 2023 as 26-year veteran Lt. Brandon Mills. The man killed by police was identified as 60-year-old Lamont Bland on Dec. 1, 2023. Additional information from police was added to this article on Dec. 4, 2023.
Previous reporting: A man holding a knife to a woman was shot and killed by an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer on the south side of the city Thursday evening, according to Assistant Chief Chris Bailey.
Police arrived at the 4900 block of Knights Way after a caller to 911 reported a woman screaming for help inside a semi truck parked near a fast food restaurant.
"Officers in full uniform knocked on the door and observed a man come out from behind the curtain that separates the driving compartment from the sleeping compartment," Bailey said. The man stared at police and then went back behind the curtain.
Bailey said officers heard a woman screaming for help in the back of the cab.
Within minutes, a lieutenant who had arrived on the scene decided to break the window of the truck, Bailey said.
The lieutenant appeared to try de-escalating the situation by communicating with with the man, introducing himself and asking for the man's name, according to video released later by IMPD. In the background, the woman could be heard calling for help.
"I'm going to jail for something," said the man in the video.
"Nobody's going to go to jail right now," the officer said, pleading. "There's nothing that's happened right now that you have to go to jail."
In the video, the man can be heard making statements such as, “I’m going to kill her,” “I got a knife to her throat,” and “You’re gonna die.”
"The woman could be heard screaming that she was bleeding and needed help," Bailey said. "The lieutenant, in my opinion, bravely inched into the cab on multiple occasions to move the curtain back so they could see and continue to try to communicate with the individual inside the cab."
Body camera footage briefly showed the man on top of the woman, Bailey said.
Minutes into the standoff, the officer fired a single shot, killing the man inside the cab. The man was later identified as 60-year-old Lamont Bland.
The woman, who had received multiple cuts, was treated at the scene. A bloodied razor blade was later found inside the sleeping cabin.
"Tonight, this officer saved a woman's life," Bailey said.
The woman told detectives that Bland pulled her into the cabin of his semi and held her against her will for hours. Bland claimed the woman had stolen something from him previously, but she told police she had never met him before.
More: Indianapolis police shootings highest in years. What is going on?
The officer has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, as is standard procedure, according to IMPD.
Thursday marked the 17th time police have injured or killed someone in 2023 in Indianapolis.
The last police shooting happened Nov. 17, when police attempted to conduct a traffic stop near 16th Street and Arlington Avenue.
John Tufts covers evening breaking and trending news for the Indianapolis Star. Send him a news tip at JTufts@Gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Officer kills man holding blade on woman in semi, Indy police say
