Suspect arrested in officer-involved shooting Wednesday at Center Point

Thursday, June 18, 2020

CENTERPOINT -- A suspect has been placed under arrest in Wednesday morning’s officer-involved shooting near Centerpoint.

Marion Tanner Joseph Haywood, 23, Owensburg, was released from Regional Hospital in Terre Haute Thursday afternoon and was taken into custody by the Indiana State Police upon his release. Haywood has been transported to the Clay County Jail at Brazil where he is now incarcerated on charges of:

-- Two counts of possessing, manufacturing, transporting or distributing a destructive device, a Level 5 felony.

-- Resisting law enforcement with vehicle, a Level 6 felony.

-- A Monroe County warrant for domestic battery with a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony.

At approximately 2:27 a.m. Wednesday, deputies of the Clay County Sheriff’s Department were requested at a residence near the Clay County and Vigo County line off State Road 46, reference to a suspicious subject knocking vigorously on a residence door.

The subject left the residence before Clay County deputies could arrive. A short time later, a Clay County deputy observed a vehicle, meeting the description from the original call, traveling eastbound on State Road 46 at a high rate of speed. The deputy then attempted to stop the vehicle, and a pursuit ensued, continuing northbound onto State Road 59.

The subject began to discard items from the moving vehicle, which would later be discovered as improvised explosive devices, Indiana State Police at Putnamville reported.

The pursuit continued onto County Road 100 East and County Road 300 North in Clay County, where the subject failed to negotiate a turn, going off the roadway. It was at that time that the pursuing deputy caught up to the vehicle, but the subject had maneuvered the vehicle back onto the roadway and proceeded to drive the vehicle directly at the deputy.

With the deputy believing his life was in danger, he then discharged his duty weapon at Haywood who continued north before stopping, exiting the vehicle and attempting to flee on foot. A Clay County K-9 officer was released at that time, and the subject was subdued.

Haywood was subsequently transported to Regional Hospital in Terre Haute with non-life threatening injuries. No deputies were injured.

The Indiana State Police Explosive Ordnance Disposal team (EOD) out of Indianapolis arrived on the scene and used K-9 units and special tools to inspect the items within the subject’s vehicle and those that were discarded onto State Road 59. The EOD team found the discarded items to be active explosives and used a device to neutralize the discarded items, deeming the scene safe.

Clay County Deputy Hunter Gambil is the deputy involved in this incident. He has been placed on administrative leave, which is customary in officer-involved shooting incidents. Deputy Gambil has 18 months of service to the department.

The investigation is being conducted by Indiana State Police detectives Mike Featherling, Ryan Winters and Jason Schofstall with the assistance of Lt. Jeff Hearon, First Sgt. Jason Fajt, Sgt. Sam Stearley, CSI Sgt. Brandon Mullen and CSI Sgt. Michael Organ of the Putnamville State Police Post.

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