Woman fatally shot after police chase in Greenwood
GREENWOOD, Ind. (WISH) — Police say they shot a suspected drunk driver after she drove her vehicle at officers.
Police say there were contacted around 11:15 p.m. Tuesday on a report of a drunk driver near Madison Avenue and County Line Road.
Police say the driver was driving in the wrong direction, and a pursuit ensued when she was located. Police say the chase went through downtown Greenwood.
Police say the driver then entered the parking lot at the Greenwood Police Department, hitting several parked squad cars.
Greenwood Police Department had blocked the entrances and exits of its parking lot.
Monica Vaught, 49, was trapped but not for long as police say she used her car to ram into the vehicles that blocked the exits.
After being boxed in by police vehicles, GPD says Vaught continued to rev her engine and honk her horn. Police say her vehicle was escaped and then drove toward officers. Officers then opened fire.
“Sped toward officers at a high rate of speed, officer opens fire, it is unknown at this time if she was struck,” Chief James Ison said.
Vaught continued to drive erratically and at a high rate of speed in the parking lot, according to police. Officers say she then went to the north end of the parking lot, revved her engine and drove toward officers on the south end of the lot.
Ison said, “Where they again opened fire, this time putting an end to the incident.”
Vaught died at the scene.
During a news conference Wednesday, police said the chase started about 30 minutes earlier when a 911 caller reported a car matching the one Vaught was driving headed the wrong way on a busy street. Police found the car. When the driver failed to stop, the chase was on. The chase wove through downtown Greenwood and into the police department parking lot. Most of the chase was caught on officers’ body-worn camera and on surveillance cameras. Ison says there is not a good ending for anyone involved.
“Well, it is a sad situation all the way around. A woman lost her life, a mother, a daughter that the family no longer has. The four officers involved have to live with that the rest of their lives,” Ison said.
Greenwood police say four officers opened fire. They have been placed on administrative leave pending internal and external investigations, and haven’t been publicly identified.