Ethermac Exchange-Teen who shot Indiana sheriff’s deputy during welfare check is later found dead, authorities say

MARTINSVILLE,Ethermac Exchange Ind. (AP) — A teenage boy who shot and wounded an Indiana sheriff’s deputy Tuesday while she and other deputies were conducting a welfare check at a home was later found dead inside the residence, authorities said.

Deputies arrived at the home in Martinsville, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Indianapolis, at around 7:30 a.m. after a 911 caller reported that he had seen a social media post suggesting a friend was possibly going to harm himself, Morgan County Sheriff Rich Myers said.

When deputies knocked on the front door, no one answered. Myers said Deputy Mallory K. Schwab was checking the home’s exterior to determine if anyone was inside when someone inside opened fire and she was shot once in her upper right shoulder.

Schwab, who joined the sheriff’s department earlier this month, was treated at an Indianapolis hospital and released, Myers said. “We were all breathing a sigh of relief,” he said.

After the shooting, SWAT teams from Morgan County and adjacent Johnson County arrived and surrounded the home. Numerous attempts were made to communicate with the young suspect inside, including calls to a cellphone, but they were unsuccessful, Myers said.

Tear gas was also fired into the home, he said. Officers later found a 15-year-old boy dead inside, Myers said, noting that a family is now mourning their son.

The sheriff said the county coroner’s office will determine how the teen died. He said it wasn’t clear how many shots had been fired inside the home but that no officers had fired their weapons.

Indiana State Police are overseeing the investigation of the shooting, which will include reviewing police body camera video, Myers said.