LAWRENCEBURG, IN — Dearborn County Prosecutor Lynn Deddens has determined that a Lawrenceburg police officer acted in self-defense in the shooting death of a man last October. This comes after a review of the applicable Indiana Code and the completed Indiana State Police investigation.
Thirty-three-year-old Brandon Evans was shot and killed by Officer Garrett Schmaltz, who was the first to arrive at the scene of a domestic disturbance at an apartment complex where Evans lived with his girlfriend. Investigators say when Officer Schmaltz entered the area, Evans was naked and wielding a kitchen knife.
Deddens said Schmaltz ordered Evans to drop the knife, but Evans refused and ran toward the officer. Schmaltz then retreated up a nearby stairway, still ordering Evans to drop the knife — and he again refused.
Authorities say Evans continued to run at the officer, who was backed against a wall and “had no means of escape.” Deddens said that’s when Schmaltz fired six shots, killing Evans.
Deddens said the officer was justified and “acted properly in asserting his personal right to self-defense as well as in the performance of his official duty as a police officer” in the shooting of Evans.
Following the shooting, police searched the apartment, finding it ransacked and in disarray. A woman identified as Staci Coyne was found dead inside the apartment from multiple stab wounds. Authorities say Coyne and Evans had been in a relationship since January 2020 and lived together in the apartment.
Authorities say a dog was also found inside the apartment with a stab wound to the leg.
