 (Sims, Indiana) The Indiana State Police, at the request of the Grant County Sheriff Del Garcia, is investigating a police-involved shooting in which a Sims, IN man died.
The preliminary investigation by Indiana State Police detectives revealed that yesterday, at approximately 7:40 p.m., members of the Grant County Sheriff’s Office and the Swayzee Police Department responded to the area of Howard Street and Washington Street in Sims for a report of a man wearing a Carhart jacket and armed with a pellet gun threatening to shoot a car.
The Swayzee officer was first on the scene and located the male subject, identified as Brandon T. Decker, 27, of Sims. Decker was observed wearing a Carhart jacket and holding what appeared to be a rifle. The Swayzee officer requested assistance, and a Grant County deputy arrived shortly after. Communication was made with Decker to drop the weapon, and he complied. An attempt was made to place Decker into custody; however, Decker pulled his hands out of his pockets and brandished a knife. The Grant County deputy deployed his department-issued taser; however, it was ineffective. Decker began throwing knives in the direction of the officers, resulting in the Grant County deputy discharging their department-issued handgun.
Despite life-saving measures by the deputy, police officer, and responding paramedics, Decker succumbed to injuries from a gunshot wound.
There were no officers injured in the incident. The Grant County deputy involved in the shooting will be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. This is standard operating procedure for the Grant County Sheriff's Office when an officer is involved in a shooting.
The investigation is ongoing. No further information will be released at this time.
Upon completion of the investigation, the findings will be provided to the Grant County Prosecutor's Office for review.
All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until, and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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