A veteran city police sniper fatally shot a man after a lengthy stand-off early Wednesday in a north central neighborhood in which the man leveled a pump-action shotgun at police.
The 56-year-old man, whom police chief Rusty York described as “intoxicated, despondent and paranoid,” called the city's police desk - not 9-1-1 - at 3:05 a.m. and threatened to commit suicide and to blow up the neighborhood. According to a news release from the Allen County coroner's office, the man was Stephen T. Thompson of 1704 Kenwood Ave. His death has been ruled the first homicide in Allen County for 2009.
He might have been serious about his threat because police later discovered some 100 gallons of gasoline in 5-gallon containers - many without lids - in the garage at 1704 Kenwood Ave., according to York. Police also found fireworks and two other firearms in the home, York said.
Thompson's initial call to police directed them to a West State Boulevard address, which two police units responded to and where the man's estranged family directed officers to the Kenwood Avenue address.
The situation escalated from there.
When police approached the residence, officers reportedly heard two gunshots, which prompted them to retreat and call for SWAT and a Crisis Response Team backup.
From there, an on-scene negotiator made contact with Thompson - who York said was dealing with medical issues at the time - and continued negotiations for an hour.
Thompson told the negotiator his plans to blow up the neighborhood, and “made a statement that police jackets would not protect (police),” York said.
Thompson was monitoring police radio channels over the Internet, York said.
According to York: At 5:26 a.m., Thompson emerged from the home armed with a pump-action shotgun. He then verbally threatened police, loaded a shell into the chamber of and cocked the shotgun and leveled it toward a position where police were taking cover.
At that point, a supervising SWAT sniper fired a single shot from a .308-caliber rifle at Thompson, striking him in the head and killing him, York said.
York said the sniper, who's name was not released and has used deadly force once before, was granted the ability to determine the threat level of the situation and make the decision to open fire, and that his actions were within protocol.
“Obviously it's very unfortunate whenever a life is lost, but we want to commend the officers and the dispatchers who worked so hard to attempt to diffuse this situation to protect our community,” said York. “This has been a very emotional experience for all of them.”
The officer has been placed on customary administrative leave.
The case remains under investigation by the Fort Wayne Police Department, the Indiana State Police, the Allen County prosecutor's office and the coroner's office.
