The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/77772
A-6 Wednesday, August 8, 2012 The Press-Dispatch H Report: Tharp acted appropriately in shooting riously injured after be- ing shot multiple times, has been released from the hospital, but was arrested at about 11:30 a.m. Saturday, August 4, by Pike County Deputy Sheriff Mike Willis on a warrant for probation revocation. McDonald said one of the ly clear." Woodland, who was se- Continued from page A-1 on may possess a firearm. However, state law is much different and there are only certain felony charges that prohibit gun possession. "Criminal charges perti- conditions of Woodland's probation was he not pos- sess a firearm. On those grounds, Woodland's proba- tion was revoked. He is still on probation from a convic- tion of conspiracy to deal in a schedule II controlled substance, a class B felony. He said they are also in- vestigating how the "Mac 90" semi-automatic rif le that fires a 7.62 mm car- tridge got into Woodland's possession. "We are having the rifle traced." McDonald said federal law is simple in that no fel- nent to the unlawfulness of Mr. Woodland's possession of the assault rifle, based upon his criminal record and whether he qualifies as a 'serious violent felon' un- der Indiana law, may ensue pending further investiga- tion," wrote McDonald. McDonald's letter in- Burress Sherwood (Wood- land's father's girlfriend) and State Police Detective Tobias Odom. cluded eight individual de- terminations after hearing from nine people who were placed under oath Tuesday morning in Pike Circuit Court and asked what they saw that night. Those who testified were, Shirley Tepe (Woodland's mother); Cody Tepe (Wood- land's brother), Daniel Mor- gan (Woodland's uncle), Kim Cummings (neighbor), Lisa DeJarnett (neighbor), Mike Tepe (father), Sandy NRCS announces special sign-up for drought relief es Conservation Service (NRCS) field officer Er- ica Burkemper reminds land owners, producers and operators they need to call the office "as soon as possible" to file for as- sistance from the Wild- life Habitat Incentives Pro- gram (WHIP) regarding the 2012 drought. The drought of 2012 has USDA Natural Resourc- By James Capozella a specific set of practic- es that can address wild- life habitat and drought re- source concerns. Exam- ples of practices include deferred grazing through access control, conserva- caused serious degradation to many natural resource concerns in the state and Pike County including wild- life cover, livestock forage, wildlife and livestock water and soil quality according NRCS state conservationist Jane Hardisty. The agency will have a special sign-up to assist drought-stricken pro- ducers through the WHIP with a deadline for applica- tion of August 20. The local contact number is 354-6120, ext. 3. The funding will be for tion crop rotation, cover crops, forage and biomass planting and watering fa- cilities. Several supporting practices are also allowed and include ponds, pumps, pipeline, wells and other similar practices. The purpose of the WHIP sign-up is to protect wildlife habitat by providing wild- life access to cover and wa- ter during fall and winter, and allow pastures to recov- er from the drought accord- ing to Hardisty. Hardisty said she was also court she had placed the 911 call. However in the Tuesday hearing she said when she made the call she mis-spoke when she said she was afraid Woodland was going to kill her. She said instead she meant she was afraid he was going to kill himself. Her son and Woodland's Shirley Tepe told the brother, Cody Tepe, also testified Woodland came to the trailer intoxicated and in a bad mood. Woodland's uncle, Dan- 1. All witnesses agree that Mr. Woodland proceeded from the house trailer armed with a rifle at the time that officer Tharp ar- rived pursuant to a 911 call placed by Mr. Woodland's mother requesting help; iel Morgan, also said Wood- land, who had been drink- ing, came to the trailer a few minutes before police arrived. concerned because drought- stressed crops did not use the applied nitrogen fertil- izer, which may now be lost due to rain. WHIP funds can help provide cover crops to tie up these nutrients, mak- ing them available for the next crop. "This saves farm- ers money and protects wa- ter quality, along with wild- life benefits," according to Hardisty. Pike County landowners and producers can make application and find out more about the program re- quirements by visiting the local USDA-NRCS field of- ficer or go to www.in.nrcs. usda.gov.drought.html. Vincennes University extends Helton's contract through 2015 said the Board extended the contract through July 31, 2015, because members were pleased with the lead- ership provided by Helton, the longest-serving presi- dent among the state's pub- lic universities. "The President has met or Board of Trustees extended the contract of Pike County native Dick Helton as Pres- ident of VU on Wednesday. Board Chair J.R. Gaylor The Vincennes University making a "pumping mo- tion." On the night of the shooting she told police it looked like Woodland was "cocking and firing" in the direction of Officer Tharp. DeJarnet t said she court she has lived direct- ly across Trafzer Street from the Tepe trailer for three years. She said she was standing at her front door when she saw Tharp drive up and get out of his car. Woodland came out of the trailer with a gun in both hands. She said Wood- land turned toward Officer Tharp. "I remember him looking down the barrel but I don't remember if it was up to his eye," said DeJarnett. She said Woodland was Lisa DeJarnett told the 2. Mr. Woodland pointed the rifle in the direc- tion of officer Tharp as testified to by a neighbor eyewitness and Mr. Woodland's brother, providing an imminent threat of serious bodily in- jury to the officer or other persons in the house behind the of- ficer in the neighbor- hood; further, Officer Tharp's belief in the imminent threat of serious bodily injury of death, based upon an assault rifle point- ed at him after being advised of a potential- ly violent ongoing do- mestic dispute was objectively reason- able; further we note that Cody Tepe testi- fied to recalling Offi- cer Tharp advise Mr. Woodland to drop the weapon prior to shots being fired. the court "Mikey" Woodland, his older brother, had been dropped off at the house by his ex-wife's brother. He said "Mikey" was in a bad mood and he could tell Woodland had been drinking. When asked how he knew Cody Tepe under oath told 3. Officer Tharp shot Mr. Woodland as a re- sult of Mr. Woodland pointing the rifle in his direction. Credible ev- idence, from testimo- ny or examination of the scene exists, that the rifle Mr. Woodland was carrying was un- loaded; however, un- der the circumstanc- es there was no way for Officer Tharp to know that the gun was unloaded. Lisa DeJar- nett testified that from her vantage point across the street it ap- peared that Mr. Wood- land was "cocking and firing" in the direc- tion of Officer Tharp and consequently her house. Further it is not clear whether Mr. Woodland had reason to know that the gun was unloaded as it was unloaded by Mr. Woodland's brother, according to his testi- mony, out of his pres- ence, and Mr. Wood- land was by all ac- counts intoxicated at the time of the shoot- ing; behind a tree, around the corner of the trailer, and closer to the road. Odom said he found a trail of emp- ty casings that began in front of where Tharp parked when he drove up. Odom said Tharp told him he thought he had a malfunction of his gun and the live round on the ground and magazine are consistent with an offi- cer under stress ejecting a shell and magazine to clear the gun. on the stand a tape of Offi- cer Tharp's emergency call to dispatch was played. It replayed him screaming "shots fired, shots fired, shots fired." Then there is a pause and dispatch asks him about his status. He again screams, "shots fired, one down, shots fired." There is another pause and central dispatch asks him again for status and he screams "One down, need EMS immedi- ately. " Seconds later he yells While Det. Odom was he was in a bad mood, he said Woodland was argu- ing and yelling at him and their mother. He said Wood- land wanted to go camping so he was going to go with him, but they got into an ar- gument about taking a gun. He said Mikey pushed him out of the way and went in- to a bedroom to get the gun. He said he then tried to keep Mikey from leaving the trailer with the gun, but he pushed him down and went outside. Cody testified he had tak- en the magazine out of the gun, but he didn't know if Woodland knew that. Tepe got up and started to follow Woodland outside, but when he opened the door, he saw Officer Tharp with his gun pulled, and heard him yell for Woodland to drop his gun. Tepe quickly stepped away from the door, and shortly after, the storm door window shattered. When asked if Tepe saw again, "I need ambulance immediately dispatch. Shots fired, one man down." Tharp fire any shots he said, "I don't know, it seems like I saw haze coming out of the barrel." He added, "I was just trying to get out of the way. " said that "VU is a passion of mine and a labor of love." "I am starting my 45th exceeded our criteria that we evaluated. We feel the uni- versity is headed in the right direction and that he will continue to take us where we need to go. We are proud of the service of the President all the way through staff and faculty. We sense that even in trying times the universi- ty is flourishing, so we want to see that continue going in the right direction," Gay- lor said. In his response, Helton year today as a public educa- tor and I still enjoy working with students, faculty, staff, and administration. I have tons of energy, I enjoy com- ing to work each day, and so I am very pleased that the board has extended my contract," Helton said. "It has been a wonderful experience for me at Vin- cennes University. While people remind me that I am the longest tenured public university president in our Dick Helton state, I honestly do not know where the time has gone. I am pleased to be part of this institution, I think we have a wonderful mission, and I am just hopeful that we can con- tinue to move forward," Hel- ton said. A native of Otwell, Helton was sworn-in as VU's 21st president on August 18, 2004. Helton's educational career included 19 years as a superintendent of schools in Indiana, with the last 14 years at the Avon Commu- nity School Corp. Three people were sworn- was directly in line with Tharp and where the gun was pointed. She said she ducked down, went to the back of the house, and called the sheriff's depart- ment to tell them Tharp needed help because he had been shot at. She said she did not see Woodland go down. court he found live ammu- nition from Tharp's pistol as well as a magazine with live ammunition on the ground Detective Odom told the 4. Shell casings recov- ered at the scene, and a clip from the service weapon, corroborate officer Tharp's claims in interviews with De- tective Odom that he began a course of re- treat toward the cov- er of a large tree east of the trailer and out of the line of sight of any witness inside the trailer positioned at the front door; day, Shirley Tepe, said after Woodland went outside, she ran to the door, unaware po- lice, whom she called, had arrived. "When I opened the door out to the carport the door shattered in my hand. I heard a 'pop, pop, pop,' that is why I opened the door." She said she never saw In the hearing on Tues- her son have the gun in his hands. "I just wonder af- ter he was down, why did he (Tharp) keep shooting," said Tepe. McDonald then asked Te- 6. Shirley Tepe's sub- sequent claims that she witnessed Of- f icer Tharp shoot Woodland while he was laying on the ground cannot be considered credible as they directly con- flict with her origi- nal statement to De- tective Odom which made no such claim, and prior statements she made to third par- ties, an inconsisten- cy which she admit- ted and attributed in court to "shock" from the events; 5. Officer Tharp was un- der extreme stress, as is apparent from the tone of his "shots fired" distress call and request for first responders to aid Mr. Woodland; such stress as would be entirely consistent with hav- ing fear for one's life or the life of another; 7. Mr. Woodland was up- right and still holding the rifle several mo- ments after the shoot- ing began and at the last moment at which he was seen by neigh- bor, Lisa DeJarnett, all according to her testimony and consis- tent with her original statement ; further, Lisa DeJarnett testi- fied that she retreated from her front window at such time to seek cover and did not see Mr. Woodland fall; also touched on claims by Woodland's uncle, Daniel Morgan, of excessive force by Tharp. It stated: "In response to McDonald, in the letter 8. Finally, it is not appro- priate under these facts and circum- stances, as set forth in open court, to sec- ond-guess the exact point at which Officer Tharp should have ceased firing as he, being faced with the original threat, was in the best position to make such a determi- nation and no credi- ble evidence exists to support the claim that he shot Mr. Woodland while he was laying on the ground. Mr. Morgan's claims of im- proper use of force, the de- tectives during such inter- views questioned him re- peatedly regarding whether he, from his vantage point in- side the trailer, could see any of the shooting; Mr. Morgan adamantly denied being able to see or observe anything outside the trailer at the time of the shooting, making Mr. Morgan's claim have no ba- sis in fact." He continued, "It was only pe why she didn't mention this to Det. Odom on the night of the shooting. He then played a tape of what she said in an interview the night of the shooting. On the recording she says, "I heard a pop and started to go out the door. I saw shoot- ing. Mike had a gun and was down on his knees." When she was asked on tape to fur- ther describe what she was seeing she said, "I started to walk out the door. I saw Mike fall and saw the officer shoot a couple of times and Mike fell." after witnesses came forward several days later stating that Mr. Woodland's mother, had claimed that Officer Tharp shot, or continued to shoot Mr. Woodland when he was on the ground, that we decid- ed to call all witnesses, other than Mr. Woodland (who has elected not to testify, as is his right upon advice of coun- sel). Such witnesses were called under investigatory subpoena to open court on today's date (August 7). Ad- ditionally, numerous reports were being generated on so- cial media outlets, which in no way accurately reflected the depiction of events uncov- ered by our investigation. In light of the seriousness of this matter for all persons involved, it was determined that the testimony of all such witnesses should be taken in open court and upon the pub- lic record." Mayor Jon Craig, on Tues- day afternoon, said he was glad to learn the results of the hearing. He added, "There is the le- gal side of this and the per- sonal side. It is a traumatic experience for anyone to go through. To support Chad and his family, we want to make sure he is ready to return. He has been doing some light work stuff, not re- turning to the full-time duty. We will leave that determina- tion up to Chief Baumgart. I anticipate it to be soon." Dr. Kristi Mahaffey Nord Neurologist N in as new members of the Board of Trustees. They include Greg Harrell, who will represent students, and ex-officio members; Tim Grove, superintendent of the South Knox School Corp., and Greg Parsley, superin- tendent of Vincennes Com- munity School Corp. ATTENTION Public Meeting at Cup Creek Cemetery 2p p n August 26 Discussing upgrading of Cemetery Drive. Respect for Human Dignity • Quality • Justice • Stewardship • Compassionate Caring Center. Dr. Nord studied biomedical engineering as an undergraduate at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and received her medical degree from Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania. She completed her internship and residency in neurology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Dr. Nord specializes in neuromuscular diseases and has advanced training in electromyography. She holds Diplomat status with the American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry, and is a Multiple Sclerosis Certified Specialist with Consortium of MS Centers. She is also a member of the American Academy of Neurology. Dr. Nord's office is located in Suite 325 in the Medical Arts Building, which is located at 721 West 13th Street in Jasper. Appointments are accepted with a physician's referral. For more information, please call Memorial Neurology at 996-5781. eurologist Kristi Mahaffey Nord, M.D. was recently appointed to the Medical Staff at Memorial Hospital and Health Care