Police name man shot by law enforcement at Evansville airport
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - Evansville Police gave an update on the shooting at Evansville Regional Airport over the weekend.
The shooting happened just after midnight on Saturday morning, when police say a man was demanding a flight from the American Airlines ticketing counter and when denied, he started threatening airport staff with a knife.
Police say he’s 24-year-old Pierre Barthelemy.
Police say several agencies tried to deescalate the situation, but were unsuccessful. They say they used Tasers and pepper balls.
Police say Barthelemy lunged at officers multiple times. The last time EPD officers, state troopers and sheriff’s deputies fired him.
“They did know he’s already charged us at least once,” said Evansville Police Sergeant Anna Gray. “I think that also was taken into consideration when he jumped up out of his chair with the knife. At that point he thought he was a threat then and they decided to shoot.”
Sgt. Gray says several of the officers on scene are crisis intervention trained. She says she’s proud of the department’s response and their efforts to deescalate the situation before turning to lethal force.
“We could have sat there all night long and negotiated with him if he would have sat there or dropped the knife, we could have had other options,” Gray said. “At the point where he escalated the situation by jumping up out of the chair with the knife in hand, closing the gap between him and officers, he took our options away from us.”
Officers say he is still in the hospital being treated for his injuries.
An arrest affidavit from November 8 shows Barthelemy came to Evansville on a bus from Indianapolis.
It shows police were called to the bus station because he was an unruly passenger.
He was arrested on a theft charge, after police say he tried to take the driver’s bag.
They say he bonded out the next day, then later that night he tried to get into a women and children’s shelter. He was asked to leave but police say he wouldn’t stop pounding on the door. Officers were called, but Barthelemy was not arrested. He was banned from the property.
Police walked our 14 News crew through body camera footage of the shooting.
You can see the full news conference here:
Warning: Some of the details given and video shown might be disturbing, and strong language is used.
Copyright 2023 WFIE. All rights reserved.
