Sheriff identifies victims, suspect in fatal Vanderburgh County shooting
EVANSVILLE – The two men shot in a fatal altercation Monday evening at a home in the Vanderburgh County river bottoms were brothers, Sheriff Noah Robinson said – and the person who shot them was an 18-year-old who now has a permanent brain injury after shooting himself.
During a news conference at Vanderburgh County Sheriff's headquarters Tuesday, Robinson identified the deceased victim as 36-year-old Shawn Wildt, who died after suffering a gunshot wound to the torso fired by 18-year-old Austin Ousley.
Wildt's brother, Chad Wildt, 42, suffered a gunshot wound to the face. He's hospitalized in Evansville.
After the shooting, Ousley reportedly drove to the Rural King on Morgan Avenue and shot himself in the head. He has a brain injury and is in critical condition at an Indianapolis hospital, Robinson said.
If Ousley survives, detective Doug Daza said Tuesday, he would face "serious" criminal charges.
A second juvenile, who was reportedly at the scene of the shooting and who Robinson declined to publicly name, is in custody at the Vanderburgh County Youth Care Center. The 17 year old is heard in 911 call audio obtained by the Courier & Press describing what unfolded inside the rural farmhouse in the 5100 block of Cypress Dale Road.
According to the audio, Ousley and his friend came to the house to "take pictures." The Wildts, who own the property, reportedly saw them on a camera they'd set up and confronted them sometime after 4:30 p.m. Monday.
"Basically, (Ousley) pulled his firearm out and shot both of them," the 17 year old told a 911 dispatcher. "I don't know if he shot the other guy, or really, if he hit him."
Ousley's friend would go on to ask dispatchers multiple times if he was going to "get in trouble."
"I'm 17, and I'm not associated with guns or anything like that," he's heard saying during the 911 call. "I don't even want to be associated with this."
After the shooting, the two teenagers left the scene and ended up in separate locations.
A bystander happening by the house saw Chad bleeding profusely outside the home and alerted police, Robinson said. Investigators responded to the home and eventually found Shawn inside.
The Vanderburgh County Coroner's Office determined Shawn died just after 5:30 p.m. Monday.
About 20 minutes after the shooting, the 17-year-old placed the 911 call cited above. He claimed Ousley had recorded a video taking responsibility for the shooting. The teen told dispatchers he'd lost contact with Ousley.
Ousley did post on social media after the shooting, Robinson said. It is currently unclear what those posts discussed, but an unidentified individual ultimately found Ousley sitting inside his red, GMC pickup truck behind a Rural King suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.
According to Robinson, Ousley shot himself.
Much remains publicly unknown about the circumstances which led to the shooting. The Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office is still processing evidence collected from the scene, and Robinson said detectives will execute additional search warrants in the coming days.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: One dead, another seriously injured after Vanderburgh Co. shooting
