Nine charged related to drug trafficking out of Evan Dorsey’s trailer
PERU, Ind. (WISH) – Indiana State Police in Peru have released the final details involving the shooting death of Howard County Deputy Carl Koontz.
Koontz, 27, was hit in an exchange of gunfire around 12:30 a.m. at a trailer park on West Chandler Street in Russiaville. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and later died of his injuries. Koontz had been on the force for nearly three years.
It’s an incident that still impacts the Sheriff’s office nine months later.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t get to tell a police officer, you be careful out there,” Howard county Sheriff Steven Rogers said. “We will incorporate anything that we learn in any incident, especially like this, into our training and into our daily operational plans.”
- FULL COVERAGE: Howard County deputy killed in shootout
Howard County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jordan Buckley, 35, was also shot. He has since made great strides to a full recovery.
On Thursday, the Howard County Prosecutor’s Office announced that nine people have been charged related to drug trafficking out of the shooter’s trailer. Six of those people have since been arrested. HCPO said a surveillance video system in the trailer was recovered, leading to the charges.
The nine people charged are:
- Faithamber Lantz
- Cody Boller
- Joseph Alvarado, Jr.
- Cheyenne McIntosh
- Jennifer Adkins
- Jason Snow
- Gregory Ryan
- Melissa Tomlinson
- Haley Rethlake
All except for Lantz, McIntosh and Snow have been arrested.
“Anytime you’re dealing with folks that are allegedly dealing with narcotics, there is some level of danger, but we’re not sounding an alert as if these folks are running into a neighborhood where they’re causing that kind of danger, where they’re going to injure someone in a community,” Indiana State Police Sgt. Tony Slocum said.
Indiana State Police said the shooter, Evan Dorsey, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
ISP said it was not known that Dorsey would be armed.
ISP said the officers entered the trailer forcibly after knocking and announcing their presence. Dorsey was locked in a bedroom. When Koontz and Buckley tried to enter the room, Dorsey fired at least nine shots at the two men, hitting Koontz and Buckley once each. Koontz and Buckley returned fire, shooting at least 16 times but did not strike Dorsey as he was hidden behind a furnace.
The shooting lasted for about 20 seconds before other officers dragged Koontz out of the trailer. Buckley was able to exit on his own. Koontz’s gunshot to his wound was fatal.