INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis police lieutenant shot and killed a truck driver on the evening of Thursday, Nov. 30, during an alleged hostage situation that played out inside the cab of a semi-truck.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD), officers responded to a 911 call at around 7:20 p.m. that reported a disturbance in a parking lot by the McDonald’s in the 4900 block of Knights Way, near interstates 69 and 465.
Someone at the scene said they had heard a woman screaming from inside the cab of an 18-wheeler. Officers then knocked on the truck’s door, and a man appeared from the sleeper berth.
He sat in the driver’s seat for a moment, then crawled back into the berth behind a partition, police said. Officers heard the woman screaming and immediately surrounded the rig, telling its occupants to exit.
A few seconds later, officers broke one of the truck’s side windows so they could better hear what was going on inside. A short time later, a police lieutenant opened the door and began talking to the man, who allegedly said he was holding a knife to a woman’s throat and was going to kill her.
The lieutenant then made his way further inside the cab and saw a woman bleeding. The officer reported seeing the man on top of the woman. He fired one shot, striking the man, who was pronounced dead inside the truck.
The Marion County Coroner’s office later identified him as Lamont Bland, 60.
The woman suffered from several cuts and received medical attention at the scene. Officers found a razor blade with blood on it inside the berth.
The incident remains under investigation.
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
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