News From Terre Haute, Indiana

Local & Bistate

Discussion

Welcome to our online comments feature. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean. We reserve the right to remove comments that are obscene, racist or abusive and statements that are false or unverifiable as well as posts that are attacking other users. Repeat offenders will be blocked. You may flag objectionable comments for review by a moderator.
comments powered by Disqus
February 13, 2013

Buza jury trial hears recording of gunfire

T.H. man facing 7 felony charges

Lisa Trigg The Tribune-Star

ROCKVILLE — A Parke County jury on Tuesday heard gunfire on a recording of police radio traffic from a July 2012 incident in Rosedale that resulted in multiple felony charges against a Terre Haute teen.

The jury also heard testimony that the teen, Zachary Buza, stated he had meant to shoot an Indiana State Police trooper in the head when he fired a rifle out the window of his girlfriend’s home during a standoff with police.

“He was talking about taking his shots,” paramedic Rachel Harris stated from the witness stand in Parke Circuit Court, “and that if he [Buza] had done a better job of sighting, he [the trooper] would have had three shots between the eyes.

“He kept going on and on about the head shots,” Harris said of the statements made by Buza on July 22, 2012, during his transport by ambulance to Union Hospital in Terre Haute for treatment of injuries to his face and hand. But she said Buza also stated that he would have liked to apologize to the trooper.

Buza, 19, faces seven felony counts — including attempted murder, attempted voluntary manslaughter, aggravated battery, criminal recklessness and strangulation — in connection with a standoff with police at his girlfriend’s residence.

The second day of the trial also included testimony from the Rosedale father and daughter in whose house Buza remained for three hours during the standoff, and testimony from three of the police officers who responded to the scene.

Trooper Brandon Mullen confirmed the statements of paramedic Harris during his testimony.

Mullen said he rode as security in the hospital-bound ambulance with Buza, and he heard the statements made by Buza against Trooper Michael Organ, who had responded to the domestic disturbance and medical emergency, along with deputy town marshal Kevin Bratcher.

“He said voluntarily that the sights must have been off on his gun because he was aiming for the officer’s head,” Mullen stated, added that at the hospital, Buza continued to make comments about the incident.

“He stated that he should have just shot the gas tank of the car. That way it probably would have blown up,” the seven-year ISP veteran trooper said.

Organ testified to the jury that when he arrived at the scene, he saw Buza inside the home with a long gun, and that after gunfire came from the Rosedale home, he retrieved his own shotgun from inside his police cruiser.

Three bullets from Buza’s rifle struck the trooper’s car — two in the rear, with one flattening a rear tire behind which Bratcher had taken cover. The third bullet went through the passenger side front window and the driver’s side front window of the police car, close to where Organ had taken cover.

Both Organ and Bratcher sustained minor cuts from shrapnel caused by the gunfire.

Organ said he returned fire four times with his shotgun, while Bratcher also returned fire with his handgun. A long wait then ensued until Buza gave himself up to police, Organ said.

The day of testimony began with Rosedale residents Rodney Lowe and his daughter Abigail Lowe, 17, recounting under oath how Buza came to their home the day of the shooting. Buza appearing intoxicated, they both said.

Rodney Lowe stated that when Buza became violent with his daughter and threatened to kill him, Lowe retrieved a baseball bat from his living room and struck Buza in the head with it, ordering him to leave the home.

Abigail Lowe stated that she got between her father, who has a heart condition, and her boyfriend Buza, trying to stop the fight. She also said she tried to take the bat from her father. She said she and her father eventually left the home to go to a neighbor’s house after some of her friends arrived at the scene.

Both Lowes said they believed that Buza was intoxicated when he entered their home, where the young man had been staying for about three weeks. Rodney Lowe said he had never seen Buza drink alcohol previously, and he was surprised by Buza’s intoxication.

Testimony will continue today in the trial, which is scheduled to run through Friday.



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

 

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local & Bistate
Latest News
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
TribStar.com Poll
AP Video
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country Raw: Tornadoes Spotted in Kansas Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor Raw: Gun Scare Mars Cannes Film Festival Music Therapy Bonds Parents and Preemies Raw: Suicide Bomber Kills 2 Americans, 13 Others CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools Obama Exhorts Good Deeds by Morehouse Graduates Raw: Texas Gov. Flies Over Tornado Damage Raw: Germany Protestors Picket Barbie House China, Others Want What's Under the Arctic Ice Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge One Million Evacuated As Cyclone Hits Bangladesh Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool Raw: 6 Die in Russian Ship Fire
NDN Video
Raw: Tornadoes Spotted in Kansas Twiggy, the Water Skiing Squirrel Sailor Surprises His Mom At Her CU Denver Graduation Ceremony Official: ‘Amazing’ No One Was Killed In CT Train Crash Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country Coffee Stop Leads To Arrest Of YouTube Sensation Wanted For Murder Bearded Dragon Reunited With Owner Marine Reunited with Warzone Companion Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool Beyonce Is Pregnant! SF baseball player overpaid $500,000 RETURNS money -- and team says KEEP IT $1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest Dad returns from Afghanistan, surprises family during Rays' first pitch See Jennifer Lopez's New $10m Hamptons Mansion Woman tricked into taking abortion pill Emma Watson Goes Pantless IRS scandal: Republicans seek to tie Obama to agency's woes Play of the Day: Flipping to Safety Pregnant Kim Kardashian Squeezes Her Swollen Feet Into Stilettos Top Videos of the Week: Angry Taco Bell Guy, Glacier Moves on House, Dog Hates Baths
Parade
Magazine
Click HERE to read all your Parade favorites including Hollywood Wire, Celebrity interviews and photo galleries, Food recipes and cooking tips, Games and lots more.
  • -

     

    March 12, 2010

activity
Real Estate News