HELTONVILLE – Early this morning a Heltonville man shot himself after a Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a report of a domestic fight and a woman being held against her will.
According to Lawrence County Prosecutor Sam Arp, at approximately 3:12 a.m., Lawrence County Dispatch received a 911 call from 277 Mundell Estates. The female caller requested an officer saying Ronald Rice was “fighting her and wouldn’t let her go”.
Deputies Bailey Duprey and Clifford Pruett arrived after also securing a warrant to seize any weapons in the home under the dangerous person law defined by Indiana Code 35-47-14-1.
Officers were able to separate the woman and Rice to speak to both of them. They informed Rice he was being detained on charges of domestic battery, strangulation, and criminal confinement.
Rice was not dressed so Deputy Durprey followed him inside the home while he got dressed.
That is when Rice grabbed a Ruger 45 revolver from underneath his clothing and shot himself in the back of the head.
Rice was responsive and officers provided assistance until an ambulance arrived. Rice was transported by an IU LifeLine ambulance to IU Bloomington Hospital for treatment. According to Arp, at 7 a.m. this morning Rice was in stable condition. No other update was available on Rice’s condition.
Assisting at the scene Pleasant Run Volunteer Fire Department first responders, and officers with the Oolitic Marshal’s Office, and Mitchell Police Department.
