Clay County hostage standoff suspect back in custody

Shannon BJ Jeffers

TERRE HAUTE - Shannon BJ Jeffers, the suspect in a hostage standoff earlier this month at a southern Clay County motel, was captured at approximately noon on Tuesday by the Terre Haute Police Department.

Jeffers had escaped from Union Hospital in Terre Haute in the early morning hours Tuesday while receiving treatment for an injury suffered in the Clay County Jail.

According to a Clay County Sheriff’s Department release early Tuesday, Clay County Jail staff discovered Jeffers in a holding cell with lacerations on his arm. Jeffers was transported to Union Hospital in Terre Haute for treatment.

While being treated, Jeffers assaulted a correctional officer and was able to escape from the officers and hospital.

The Terre Haute Police Department issued a statement later Tuesday on its Facebook page.

“Through investigative measures, detectives were able to locate Shannon Jeffers at a residence in the 2600 block of South 8th Street,” the statement said. “Officers established a perimeter, and other occupants of the residence were evacuated. Based on the seriousness of his charges and his claim to possess a firearm, the Terre Haute Police Special Response Team was activated.”

Investigators obtained a search warrant, and the special response team deployed pyrotechnic devices after communications failed to result in Jeffers’ surrender.

The release noted that Jeffers, of West Terre Haute, was taken into custody by the special response team at approximately 12:10 p.m. and released to the Clay County Sheriff’s Department for return to jail.

Jeffers was incarcerated in Clay County Jail for several felony charges relating to the Dec. 3 hostage standoff incident at the Best Western Plus Inn at the intersection of State Roads 59 and 42.

According to Matt Ames, Indiana State Police Public Information Officer for the Putnamville Post, the incident began shortly after 10 a.m. that day.

When the US Marshals Office, with the local Clay County Sheriff Department’s assistance, attempted to serve an arrest warrant on an unidentified suspect located at the hotel, 3882 N. State Road 59.

A handgun was allegedly pointed at the officers, who backed away from the room to prevent further hostility, as the suspect kept two hostages - an unidentified female and a juvenile - in the room.