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June 29, 2012

Wanted man shot dead after lunging at police with knife

Located Wednesday evening in Seelyville

Lisa Trigg The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — A Seelyville man sustained three fatal gunshot wounds when he lunged at a police officer Wednesday night during a manhunt.

Justin Compton, 26, was shot once in the head and twice in the torso shortly after 9 p.m. in a police-action shooting that is being investigated by the Indiana State Police at Putnamville.

A Thursday morning autopsy revealed that any of the wounds would have resulted in Compton’s death. Toxicology and other lab tests on Compton are pending.

Meanwhile, Vigo County Prosecutor Terry Modesitt said he is looking into possible charges of assisting a criminal for some people who allegedly harbored Compton since last week after he fled from arrest at the Vigo County Courthouse.

Indiana State Police report that Compton was swinging a knife at a K-9 officer when the shooting occurred in a wooded area just north of Seelyville. Compton, whose address on court records was listed as North Second Street in Seelyville, was located at a house at the end of Baker Street by police shortly before the shooting.

Chief Deputy Clark Cottom of the Vigo County Sheriff’s Department said police had been seeking Compton since June 11, when he fled from authorities by running out of a courtroom and jumping from the second floor rotunda of the Vigo County Courthouse.

Court records show that Compton had been arrested for driving while intoxicated, and had posted $1,000 bond to be released from the Vigo County Jail. He appeared in Vigo Superior Court 5 on June 11 where the judge revoked his bond and ordered him returned to the jail. His charges were driving after a lifetime forfeiture of his license, resisting law enforcement, driving while intoxicated and driving while intoxicated with a prior conviction.

“He was going to jail, but it was not like it was for 10 or 20 years,” Modesitt said.

Cottom said that police were told that Compton had a terminal illness, and that the young man was afraid that he would die in jail due to the illness, so he fled. Neither Modesitt nor Cottom could confirm that Compton was ill.

Cottom said that police were given a tip Wednesday that Compton might be armed with a gun, and that he had made threats to police. That led police to issue a media alert later that day asking the public for tips to find the fugitive.

Police received tips Wedesday evening that Compton was in the Seelyville area, Cottom said, so several county officers were dispatched to a residence and a city K-9 unit was also called to the scene.

As four deputies approached a house, Cottom said, Compton fled from the house, running north into a wooded area. The officers pursued him on foot into the area north of Baker Street, and called for K-9 assistance. The K-9 officer tracked the suspect to a dry creek bed, where Compton was found lying on the ground.

The officers ordered Compton to give himself up, Cottom said, but the suspect jumped up and lunged at the K-9 officer. A deputy at the scene reported seeing an empty holster at Compton’s waist, and shouted a warning. When the K-9 officer realized the suspect had a knife in his hand and that Compton was swinging the knife while coming toward the officer, the K-9 officer released his dog to subdue Compton.

However, the dog did not stop Compton’s advance, so the K-9 officer drew his weapon and fired at Compton.

Because of the dense brush and trees, Cottom said, none of the other officers were able to take aim at Compton. The incident happened quickly once Compton was located, he said.

Investigators found that the knife Compton was using was a weapon used for self-defense or attack. It was not a pocket knife or a kitchen knife, Cottom said, and it fit into the curved holster on Compton’s waist. Cottom said the knife holster closely resembled a handgun holster.

Cottom said that as the search for Compton was unfolding, he was preparing to launch a Code Red dispatch to warn all residents in a two-mile radius of the location where Compton was last seen. However, the shooting occurred just as Cottom was authorizing the Code Red, so the alert was not sent out.

None of the officers who entered the woods were injured, he said.

The decision was also made to ask the Indiana State Police to investigate the incident as a neutral agency. The ISP investigation, which could take several weeks to complete, will be forwarded to the county prosecutor for review.

Modesitt said the incident with Compton was unfortunate.

“If the guy had had a gun,” Modesitt said about the fugitive, “I do believe one of the officers could have been killed. We’re lucky he just had a knife and not a gun.”



Reporter Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com. Follow her on Twitter @TribStarLisa.

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