Prosecutor: Officer who shot man was justified in Harrison County fatal double shooting
Two people were killed Monday night in a shooting along a road in Southern Indiana, just east of Louisville, and the local prosecutor has said the officer who shot one of the men was justified in doing so.
The shooting, now under investigation by Indiana State Police, took place at about 9:30 p.m. along the 12000 block of SR 135 South in Harrison County, according to a release from ISP's Sgt. Carey Huls. Justin Moore, a 31-year-old man from Owensboro, Kentucky, was killed, along with 24-year-old Jacob Tyler McClanahan of Corydon, Indiana.
A Ford Escape driven by Moore was stopped in the roadway when Palmyra Police officers arrived to assist just before the shooting, Huls said. Two "Good Samaritans," including McClanahan, arrived at about the same time, Huls said, to help as well. Shots were fired within seconds of their arrival, he said, which left the two men dead after life-saving measures were unsuccessful.
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According to the Associated Press, one of the men, Harrison County Prosecutor Otto Schalk said at a press conference Wednesday, was shot by a police officer. Schalk said body camera and dashboard camera footage reviewed following the incident left "zero doubt" that the officer was justified in the shooting, as Moore fired a shotgun at the officer and at McClanahan, a volunteer firefighter.
The Palmyra reserve officer, Zachary Holly, asked Moore whether he had any weapons soon after stopping, Schalk said. Moore said he had a pocket knife but did not mention a gun, the prosecutor said, before pulling out a shotgun and firing at the officer. His second shot hit McClanahan, Schalk said, and Holly returned fire, killing the man.
The footage "clearly showed that the officer was justified in his actions and his decisions to use lethal force,” Schalk said.
Harrison County is just across the Ohio River from Jefferson County, with Palmyra located about 25 miles west of downtown Louisville. The Indiana county is home to Corydon, New Salisbury and a number of other towns and has a population of nearly 40,000 people, according to 2020 U.S. Census data.
The Associated Press contributed. Lucas Aulbach can be reached at laulbach@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4649 or on Twitter @LucasAulbach.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Harrison County, Indiana shooting kills 2, prompts state police probe
