Man acquitted of murdering Lafayette teacher is turned away from gun range
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) – The man accused and later acquitted of shooting and killing a Lafayette art teacher last year is officially charged for drug possession and carrying a handgun without a license.
But that didn’t stop Darius Printup from attempting to shoot a gun at a range in Lafayette last week.
Not everyone who walks into Applied Ballistics is welcome. That’s why owner Aaron Lorton refused to let Printup use his gun range last week.
“I want this to be a safe, family-friendly environment,” said Lorton. “With his history, I cannot expect customers to be OK with shooting next to him in a stall. I don’t expect my customers to be OK with that, and I am not going to put them in that position.”
Printup was accused of shooting and killing Lafayette art teacher Kristi Redmon last year. A jury found him not guilty in July, but now he faces several marijuana charges is currently on pretrial release for carrying a handgun without a license in Jasper County.
“Just not the type of clientele we are interested in having here,” said Lorton.
Lorton wasn’t working the day Printup came into his shop. But his employees kept him in the loop.
“They contacted me shortly after it happened just to let me know and then again about an hour and a half later when he called threatening a lawsuit for us refusing his service,” said Lorton.
Lorton isn’t too worried about the threat.
“It is a business’s right to refuse service to somebody with cause, and I believe that’s more than sufficient cause to do so,” said Lorton.
Customer Nick Krushinski agrees.
“I’m glad they only did it when they had something. Like because just turning away someone because they have long hair or because they wear like shorts and a sweatshirt, I’m not a fan of that, but if they have a criminal history I think that’s very fair to just turn them away,” said Krushinski.
“It’s nothing personal, it’s just, I have to look out for my customer’s best interest,” said Lorton.
WLFI in West Lafayette reached out to Printup for comment but have yet to hear back.