Charges filed against man accused of murdering Elwood police officer

ELWOOD, Ind. (WISH) — Formal charges were filed Monday against a man accused of fatally shooting an Elwood police officer during a traffic stop.

• READ: See the court documents
• ‘A sweet soul’: Fishers remembers Elwood officer killed during traffic stop

Carl Boards II, 42, of Anderson, has been charged for murder, resisting law enforcement, resisting law enforcement with a vehicle, and possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. Prosecutors are also seeking habitual offender and felony firearm enhancements. Investigators say Boards shot Elwood Police Department Officer Noah Shahnavaz, 24, during a traffic stop near the intersection of State Road 37 and County Road 1100 North in Madison County just after 2 a.m. Sunday. Shahnavaz died after being flown via medical helicopter to Indianapolis. Investigators say Shahnavaz never pulled his gun from its holster.

According to court documents, 36 rifle casings were discovered at the scene. A coroner’s report said Shahnavaz died from “two perforating gunshot wounds to the head, and several gunshot wounds to the body.” Investigators said they could not determine exactly how many times Shahnavaz had been shot.

A prayer vigil for Shahnavaz’s family will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at the City Building fountain in Elwood.

The Madison County Prosecutor’s Office said it is seeking life without parole for Boards but may later consider pushing for a death sentence.

According to investigators, Shahnavaz initiated a stop on a vehicle driven by Boards. The last radio transmission to dispatchers from Shahnavaz indicated that the driver of the vehicle had a firearm.

More officers arrived at the scene and found Shanavaz, still in his patrol vehicle and shot multiple times. The car had also been shot up.

Around 2:30 a.m., a deputy with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office noticed the suspect vehicle after receiving a countywide dispatch regarding the shooting of Shahnavaz. He began following the vehicle on U.S. 37 near 216th Street and multiple law enforcement officers eventually joined the chase. Deputies attempted using tire-deflating devices, and officers from the Fishers Police Department used “precision immobilization techniques” techniques to stop the vehicle on I-69 near the 203.9-mile marker, near the 106th Street interchange in Fishers. Boards was arrested without further incident.

According to court documents, Boards had a 9mm handgun on him, and a “black rifle with a high-capacity magazine” was in the driver’s seat of his vehicle.

Boards did not make a formal statement to officers following the arrest, but investigators learned that he had used FaceTime to communicate with his mother, father and girlfriend while he was running from police, according to court documents.

Detectives learned that Boards owns a barbershop in Marion and went there to investigate. They spoke to a man who said he rents an apartment above the barbershop and has the same landlord as Boards. He told investigators that Boards recorded a “song making statements that if he was ever caught by police that he would kill them.” The same man told detectives that Boards has said he is a “member of the Black Hebrew Israelites.” A search warrant of the barbershop revealed a high-capacity magazine, according to investigators.

Boards has multiple prior convictions involving violence, drugs and firearms.

He was convicted of battery with a deadly weapon in 1999. In 2001, he was convicted for cocaine possession and possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon.

In 2006, Boards ran from police and fired shots at officers in Indianapolis. Originally charged with attempted murder, he appealed and was sentenced for criminal recklessness. He received a 25-year sentence but was released early.

Boards was to have an initial hearing in court on Monday afternoon.

Elwood police shooting suspect has extensive criminal record involving firearms

I-Team 8’s Richard Essex contributed to this story.

In May 1999, Boards was charged with battery using a deadly weapon. I-Team 8 is told the charges were the result of Boards shooting at his father. He was found guilty and sentenced to two years in the Indiana Department of Correction. Only seven months were served.

In April 2001, less than a year after getting out jail, Boards was arrested in Howard County. The sheriff’s department in Howard County told I-Team 8 that Boards was arrested on two firearms-related offenses and for dealing cocaine. Boards was offered a plea agreement that puts him in prison for 10 years for dealing cocaine and possession of a firearm by a serious felon. He didn’t fully serve that sentence.

In April 2006, Boards was arrested for possession of a firearm by a serious felon. The charges were later dismissed by the state.

In November 2006, Boards was arrested for the attempted murder of a police officer in Indianapolis. According to police, Boards at the time was spotted driving erratically and eventually pulled over on White River Parkway. As the officer got out his car, Boards fired seven or eight rounds at the officer. The officer took cover behind his car. Boards was eventually tasered by a Marion County sheriff’s deputy. During a search of his vehicle, police say they found an AK-47.