Lebanon, IN Deputy killed

jacob-pickett

 The thin blue line has been shattered, says Boone County Sheriff Mike Nielsen.

K-9 Deputy Jacob Pickett, 30, will not survive the injuries received after being shot in the head Friday during a foot pursuit. He leaves behind a wife and two preschool-aged children.

The shooter has been identified as 21-year-old Anthony Bumgardt of Lebanon. According to Indiana State Police, Bumgardt was wanted for failure to appear in Marion County on felony theft and criminal mischief charges.

ISP says the events leading to Pickett’s death began around 9:30 a.m., when officers attempting to serve a warrant at a Lebanon home noticed another wanted person, John Baldwin Jr., nearby.

Officers ordered him to stop. Baldwin Jr. refused and got into a car with his father, John Baldwin Sr., and Anthony Bumgardt.

Lebanon Police gave chase and Deputy Pickett joined to assist. Just before 9:40, Baldwin Jr. stopped the car on Indian Springs Road and all three men got out and ran.

Deputy Pickett followed on foot and was shot by Bumgardt. Bumgardt was then shot by police and taken into custody. Baldwin Jr. got back into the car and was arrested after a brief chase on northbound I-65.

Baldwin Sr. was able to escape and remained at large for nearly two hours. Lebanon Schools, the Boone Co. Courthouse and other city and county buildings were on lockdown until Baldwin “gave himself up” shortly before noon.

All three suspects are now behind bars, but that does little to ease the grief felt by those whose lives were touched by Deputy Pickett and his K-9 partner, Brick.

“There are no words that can explain the grief that we feel today,” Sheriff Nielsen said Friday afternoon. “The next several days will be some of the hardest we have ever been through. Together we will endure this hardship and persevere.”