ISP police-action shooting report due by early next week

An Indiana State Police investigation into the July 1 police-action shooting that claimed the life of a 28-year-old Greencastle man is nearing completion, the Greencastle City Council was told Tuesday night.

City Police Chief Tom Sutherlin told the Council that State Police investigators will submit a preliminary report to the Putnam County Prosecutor's Office "by the end of this week or the first part of next week" in the fatal shooting of Charles Aaron Brousard.

The final ISP report, Sutherlin said, will be submitted at the conclusion of toxicology reports, which can take six to eight weeks to complete.

"The Putnam County Prosecutor, and only he, will make the final ruling in the investigation," Sutherlin advised.

Brousard was fatally wounded in an early morning physical altercation with a city police officer who had responded to 511 Sycamore St. on a 911 call reporting a domestic disturbance between a man and a woman.

That incident spilled over to nearby Maple Berry Park where Brousard was fatally wounded by the as-yet publicly unnamed police officer. That city officer remains on administrative leave.

What happened before, during and after that altercation just after midnight on July 1 is the subject of the ongoing Indiana State Police investigation.

"This is a very tragic and sorrowful time for our community," Chief Sutherlin told the Council at the outset of its regular July session at City Hall.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Brousard family," he stressed.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the police officers and their families," the chief added. "Unfortunately, this traumatic event has affected our whole community, and is going to for a long time."