Ripley Co. Prosecutor: Actions Justifiable In Officer Involved Shooting In Batesville

The incident took place on November 16 at a home on Bridlewood Trace Road.

Photo by Indiana State Police. 

(Batesville, Ind.) – Ripley County Prosecutor Ric Hertel has released findings from an officer involved shooting in Batesville in November of 2020.

It was November 16 when Batesville Police received a 911 call from a female stating that her husband was acting erratically and had a knife.

Police responded to the home on Bridlewood Trace Road in the early morning hours.

Upon arrival, Joshua Evans was found barricaded in the garage, where his gun safe was located. At one point, Evans provided officers with a keypad code to gain access into the garage. When the garage door started to go up, Evans allegedly fired a shot striking the door frame, which caused shrapnel from the bullet hole to strike an officer in the bicep.

Evans continued to barricade himself in the garage and officers estimated that he fired 20 to 30 rounds during the three-hour standoff.

After a 27-minute phone call with Indiana State Police’s negotiating team, Evans walked out of the garage with a handgun in his right hand. Evans allegedly pointed the gun toward an officer.

Three members of the Indiana State Police Emergency Response Team engaged and fired their weapon at Evans, in addition to a shot from a Greensburg Police sniper.

Evans was treated at the scene by EMS personnel and was transported to Margaret Mary Health in Batesville, where he was pronounced dead.

According to Hertel, the officers’ use of force was objectively reasonable in light of all known facts. He added that evidence supports two separate legal justification defenses that deadly force was appropriate in this instance.

• The pointing of a firearm directly at an officer.
• Combined with his earlier gunshot in the direction of an officer.

Hertel added that Evans intended to inflict serious bodily injury to the officers and/or commit a forcible felony.

Furthermore, the officers, who were acting in their official capacity, were in a place where they had a right and duty to be, and while there, were placed in a reasonable fear of death or serious bodily harm based on Evans’ actions that day.

Therefore, the officers used a justifiable use of deadly force.

Prosecutor's Findings

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