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Last updated on Thursday, July 5, 2012
(OWENSBURG) - Two Greene County Sheriff’s Department Deputies were shot Wednesday morning while responding to a call near Owensburg.
25-year-old Michael Lane Jr., of Owensburg, is dead, but police are not saying how he died.
Greene County Sheriff's Department deputies James O'Malley and Brad Deckard both suffered gunshot wounds believed to have been fired from a shotgun by Lane in a shootout that developed when they came to his residence.
The incident took place a Lane's home, along State Road 45 South - one-fourth of a mile north of State Road 58, near Owensburg and the NSA Crane Bloomington Gate. After a call of a domestic dispute. When the deputies arrived, the woman who made the call had left the scene.
"The officers were met by an unidentified male in the residence who immediately opened fire upon them. Officers were able to return fire in an attempt to stop the male's deadly force, all while tending to the deputies who had been shot," says ISP Sgt. Curt Durnil. "Troopers at the scene were eventually able to remove the deputies safely from the scene. Once the deputies were taken to an awaiting ambulance, a perimeter was established around the residence and the Indiana State Police Emergency Response Section (ERS) was called to the scene. The ERS team then utilized the Indiana State Police Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team's Robot to make entry into the residence, where it found the male subject, Michael Lane Jr., of Owensburg, deceased."
Durnil says he cannot confirm at this time if Lane was shot by law enforcement or if it was a self-inflected wound.
His sister, Megan Lane and fiance Jessica Page, say he was high on drugs at the time of the shooting.
"There was a shootout this morning and my brother called me recently, that's why I'm here. He called me and told me he was dying. He said they had shot him in the chest and he did return fire back," says Megan Lane, Lane Jr.'s sister.
His fiance also heard from him during the shootout.
"I was on the phone when he went down, his heartbeat was the last thing I heard from him on the phone, and I kept calling for him and telling him that I love him, but I never got a response," says Jessica Page, Lane Jr.'s fiance.
Greene County Sheriff Terry Pierce says Deputies James O'Malley and Brad Deckard both sustained gunshot wounds fired from a shotgun.
Sheriff Pierce says both officers were shot in the shoulder area and Deputy O'Mallery suffered some shotgun pellets in his leg and neck area. Pierce says O'Malley was taken into surgery around 12:30 p.m. Pierce added both officers were wearing bullet proof vest when the shooting happened.
Durnil says Deckard was treated in the emergency room and then released, while O'Malley was admitted following surgery.
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