Video shows Lawrence officer in shootout with suspect during east Indy police chase

LAWRENCE, Ind. — A newly published video shows bodycam and dashcam footage from a deadly shootout between a suspect and a Lawrence officer during a police chase last December on Indy’s east side.

A traffic stop turned police chase began around 4 p.m. Dec. 30 in the 6900 block of Pendleton Pike. The incident ended with IMPD and LPD officers shooting and killing the suspect, 48-year-old Kenneth T. Roberts Jr.

A video edited and released by IMPD was published Friday on YouTube. The video contains edited footage of the incident from officer bodycams, squad car dashcams and public safety traffic cams.

The video begins with a Lawrence Police Department officer attempting to pull over a Chevy near an east Indy strip mall. The car briefly stops in a parking lot and a woman exits the passenger’s side, walking toward the police car.

The officer can be heard yelling at the driver to turn off the car and put his hands up. However, the driver – later identified as Roberts – instead speeds off.

The officer then speeds off, chasing Roberts through the parking before turning right onto E. 38th Street headed west. Soon after, police say Roberts began firing shots out of his rear window toward the LPD car.

Around this time, IMPD officers responded to assist the LPD officer near E. 38th Street and N. Arlington Avenue. That is when Roberts turns left on Arlington headed south.

During this time, a public safety traffic camera captured Roberts driving on the wrong side of the road.

Soon after this, the LPD officer’s body camera captured him pulling out a rifle as he began returning fire toward Roberts’ car while driving down Arlington.

After this, Roberts is seen again turning left as he begins heading east on E. 30th Street. Soon after, the suspect is seen losing control while again driving on the wrong side of the road.

Eventually, Roberts’ car came to a stop in the 6500 block of E. 30th Street and the pursuit ended. However, shooting from both parties continued.

As the pursuit came to an end, at least 12 shots can be heard being fired by the LPD officer toward Roberts. During this time, the officer received radio information that Roberts was still shooting as well. After this, the LPD officer exits his car and fires at least 14 more shots.

Around this time, IMPD and LPD officers arrived as backup. Two officers – one from IMPD and one from LPD – exited their vehicles and fired additional shots.

The backup LPD officer can be heard firing at least 10 shots from a rifle, while the IMPD officer can be heard shooting at least 12 shots from his pistol.

For several minutes, officers are then heard yelling at Roberts to put his hands up and exit his vehicle. After no response, an armored vehicle was brought in to safely approach the car. A drone was also utilized to help look inside.

Roberts was later found unresponsive inside the car. IMPD says he was then removed and taken into custody. Soon after, IEMS crews who had already arrived on scene pronounced Roberts dead. A gun was later found near Roberts’ body.

IMPD said that no officers or uninvolved citizens were injured during the pursuit or shooting. All three officers who fired their guns during the incident were placed on administrative leave in compliance with both agencies’ policies.

The shooting incident is now under investigation by several review groups, including IMPD’s critical incident response team, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, the Civilian-Majority Use of Force Review Board and IMPD Internal Affairs. Lawrence Police are also conducting their own Internal Affairs investigation into the shooting.