EPD: Man shot by officers recently charged with child molesting

EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) - Evansville Police have released the name of the suspect in the officer-involved shooting over the weekend.

It happened late Saturday night on the city's south side.

[PREVIOUS: EPD: Standoff, chase ends in officer-involved shooting]

Officers say 61-year-old Joe Johns was charged with two counts of child molestation in June.

Sgt. Jason Cullum says Evansville Police have not spoken with Johns but believe the charges played a big part in this weekend's events.

Johns' daughter called 911, fearing her dad might hurt himself.

Police say they found him in a car in Vann-Pollack Park with a gun around 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Crisis negotiators tried to talk him down but the conversation quickly escalated after an hour.

Police say Johns led them on a 6-mile chase to a business on South Green River Road.

Once there, officers say he tried to ram his car into police on scene.

That's when four EPD officers fired.

At this point, we don't know how many times he was hit or where.

But his injuries were serious enough that he was flown to an Indianapolis hospital early Monday morning.

"It's very tough," said Sgt. Jason Cullum. "We're all humans."

"These officers came to the Civic Center, got online and picked up an application because they wanted to serve the community," he continued. "Unfortunately, sometimes we have to use force to stop somebody else's behavior and end a threat that they pose to not only us but the community."

Sgt. Cullum tells us Johns was hit by several bullets and is currently in an Indianapolis hospital.

But, the hospital is not releasing his condition.

The body cam footage and officer names aren't being released at this time.

Follow us online at 14NEWS.com and on Twitter. Text NEWSAPP to 51414 or click here to download our 14 News mobile app to get the latest headlines from around the Tri-State.