Neighbors react to lengthy standoff in Speedway

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (WISH) — Police say they shot at a suspect multiple times after a nearly six-hour standoff in Speedway.

It started near 18th Street and MacArthur Lane beginning around 1:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon. Authorities couldn’t say how many times the suspect, 57-year old Douglas Gaultney, was shot. But they did say he was a threat, and police say when that happens, they are trained not to just wound the suspect, but to shoot until they no longer feel threatened.

In this case, both Indiana State Police and the Speedway Police Department fired shots.

“We heard two shots and knew that something happened and then after that, there was a whole bunch of little shots, and that’s when we ran outside and the police were telling us to get inside,” said Bonnie Mathey, who lives in the neighborhood.

Police tried to serve a warrant when they say Gaultney waived a shotgun, then barricaded himself inside his van. Authorities say they tried to peacefully negotiate with him for about six hours.

“We will take as long as needed to end peacefully. Unfortunately, he chose to end this violently by pointing a firearm at police officers,” said Sgt. John Perrine of the Indiana State Police.

When the suspect pointed at officers, Perrine says that’s when police started firing at him.

“I thought, oh, that sounds like a cannon going off. They did it…what five or six times and then they did it again,” witnessed Mary Fleener, who lives a few houses down.

According to police, Gaultney had a warrant out for his arrest for a probation violation after being charged with possession of marijuana.

“I thought it was more serious. Maybe he had killed somebody, or so I thought. Why would he want his life taken for that? He could get help for that,” questioned Fleener.

At this time, officials are conducting toxicology tests to try to give them more clues as to why Gaultney reacted the way he did.

Neighbors say they noticed his van in the neighborhood for the past week. Police aren’t sure if he was living out of it, or if he was staying with somebody in Speedway.

Online court records show that Gaultney was in a work release program for repeatedly violating his probation on two marijuana related charges in Knox County. Authorities there tipped off Speedway police that he was in the area.

Gaultney was taken to Eskenazi Hospital. At last check, he was in critical condition.