The Evansville Police Department in Indiana has released body camera and surveillance footage of a shootout with a man armed with an AR-15 and a shotgun. The 55-minute standoff ended in the death of the suspect, as well as a neighbor. Watch the condensed version of the encounter in the video above.
The Shooter
It all went down on the evening of May 11 when neighbors heard gunshots and called the police. EPD Officers arrived to find 51-year-old Barry Freeman standing in his driveway, holding a rifle. Freeman opened fire on the officers. In addition, he continued shooting at responding LEOs. The EPD said Freeman fired “dozens” of rounds in the showdown, causing damage to four patrol vehicles, as well as four homes and two businesses in the area.
The Neighbor
At some point during the encounter, Freeman shot and killed his neighbor, 56-year-old Jeffrey Kempf, using a shotgun. Police believe Freeman may have mistaken Kempf for a police officer, noting that he didn’t fire at civilian cars that passed through the area; his actions indicated he was looking for law enforcement targets that night.
Evansville Police Take Control
Eventually, Evansville SWAT Officer and Detective Kyle Thiry put Freeman down with two rounds to the chest. The suspect managed to fire his rifle several more times before he was taken into custody.
“Officer Thiry is credited with ending Mr. Freeman’s rampage that night,” EPD Sgt. Jason Cullum said Tuesday, according to ABC News. “That is a testament to the skill and the calmness that officer Thiry displayed that night in bringing peace back to that neighborhood.”
Freeman was transported to an area hospital, where he died from his injuries. Cullum said he did not have a criminal record. He also indicated that Freeman may have been intoxicated.
Fortunately, no officers were injured during the shootout.
“Somehow we managed to get through this without any officers being injured,” WIBC quotes Cullum as saying. “We had multiple officers during that barrage of gunfire that had rounds impact near them on the ground, on the buildings nearby … At least two of them said they could actually feel the wind as those bullets went past their head.”
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