Death penalty sought in Indiana officer’s shooting death

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors said Thursday that they will seek the death penalty against the man charged with fatally shooting a police officer who was trying to help him following a car crash in Indianapolis.

The decision came about two months after authorities said Jason D. Brown shot Southport police Lt. Aaron Allan. Brown was dangling upside down in his overturned car when Allan approached, court documents said. Brown is charged with opening fire on Allan, who suffered 11 gunshot wounds and died a short time later.

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said last month that he was weighing whether to pursue capital punishment or life in prison without parole against Brown.

He said at a Thursday morning news conference that he won’t tolerate attacks on police officers.

“We may never know” why Brown fired the shots, Curry added.

A man who was a passenger in Brown’s car told officers that he and Brown had just left a gas station when Brown inexplicably began driving at a high rate of speed, court documents said. Brown then began maneuvering around cars when his vehicle drove over a median, struck a curb and overturned in the front yard of a home, with Brown hanging upside down inside, secured by his seatbelt.

The passenger was outside the overturned car, sitting on the grass, when the shooting occurred.

A nurse who stopped to help told officers that she told Brown not to move because he could further injure himself. She said Brown “became very agitated and belligerent and began cussing” shortly before she heard several gunshots ring out.

A judge has entered a not guilty plea for Brown, who is charged with murder in the July 27 shooting.