Authorities say couple in custody after attempt to kill a sheriff's deputy
Posted: Sep 26, 2020 / 10:38 AM CDT / Updated: Sep 26, 2020 / 10:44 PM CDT
VANDERBURGH CO, Ind (WEHT) – A man and woman are in custody after an exchange of gunfire with sheriff's deputies.
The Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office says they received a report of two vehicles stuck on railroad tracks near the intersection of Duesner Road and Zimmerman Road in Union Township.
The responding deputy found a man and a woman with the vehicles, and the man identified himself as 28-year-old Cade Kirk. According to police, the two fled down a nearby embankment and through a large creek before the deputy could get any more information. A search of the area for the couple was unsuccessful.
Both vehicles found at the scene were later discovered to have been stolen.
Around 6:40 p.m., Evansville-Vanderburgh Central Dispatch received a 911 call describing a suspicious male and female couple in the area of Old Henderson Road and Duesner Road.
Deputies say they found the couple near the Dogtown Tavern located at Old Henderson Road and Cypress Dale Road. He suspected the couple was the same couple from the earlier incident and attempted to detain them.
Authorities say the woman, later identified as 27-year-old Diana Ellmers, pulled out a handgun and fired several times at the deputy, hitting the passenger side window and door of his cruiser. We're told he deputy returned fire and the couple ran. The deputy was not hit by any of the shots.
Additional sheriff's deputies, Evansville Police Department officers and Indiana State Police (ISP) troopers responded to the scene to search for the couple, and drones and an ISP helicopter were used.
Authorities say around 8:20 p.m. Ellmers was discovered hiding outside a home just north of the Dogtown Tavern. Authorities tell Eyewitness News she pulled out a handgun, and two deputies and at least one EPD officers fired at her. Ellmers was hit in her abdomen and arm, and her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. She was taken into custody and sent to the hospital.
Around 10:25 p.m., police say Kirk began communicating with police calling for his surrender. He told them he had been shot and crawled out of the woods to surrender. He was also taken to the hospital for treatment for non life threatening injuries.
(This story was originally published on September 26, 2020)
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