On Wednesday afternoon, February 19, 1997, 40-year-old Colonel Robert George Black of the Rocky Ripple Town Marshal’s Office was working a private security detail at an apartment complex at 4138 Edgemere Court in Indianapolis. While responding with Sergeant Bryan Northern to a disturbance, the two officers pursued a man to an apartment and, after knocking and announcing, were met with gunfire. A 28-year-old man inside the apartment who was wanted on a probation violation warrant opened fire; both officers were struck and were not wearing bullet-resistant vests at the time.

Both men were taken to Wishard Memorial Hospital. Colonel Black died of his wounds the next morning, Thursday, February 20, 1997. Sergeant Northern survived for more than a month but later died on March 23, 1997. The shooter was captured three days after the shooting following a five-hour standoff in which he held a hostage; he was convicted on two counts of murder and later received life without parole. Colonel Black had also served eight years as a special deputy with the Marion County Sheriff’s Department and was survived by his wife and sister.

If anyone knew Colonel Black, his patrol work, or was at Edgemere Court that afternoon, can you share information that might shed light on what happened?