A 38-year veteran of the Marion County Sheriff’s office in Indiana reportedly died after being attacked during a failed prison escape Monday.
John Durm, 61, was returning an inmate to the Criminal Justice Center complex in Indianapolis following a hospital visit when the inmate allegedly assaulted him and attempted to steal the police van before crashing it into a utility pole, CBS News reported. The suspect, Orlando Mitchell, 33, reportedly injured another deputy while being apprehended by sheriff’s deputies. Mitchell was then taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries, the Indy Star reported.
While the nature of Durm’s injuries were not disclosed, he was also transported to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead, CBS News reported.
The body of Deputy John Durm was silently escorted through downtown Indianapolis alongside dozens of fellow officers – paying their respects to the fallen Marion County Sheriff’s Deputy who was killed earlier today by a prisoner attempting to escape. @CBS4Indy & @FOX59 pic.twitter.com/f2Vwxes7D6
— Justin Kollar (@kollarjustin) July 10, 2023
“The investigation at this point shows clearly that this was an intentional act of homicide and it will be investigated as such,” Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Chief Chris Bailey stated, according to the outlet.
Marion County Sheriff Kerry Forestal remembered Durm as a “good guy” whose wife and son were also part of the sheriff’s office.
“The deputies who walk into the jail every day are walking into a place where there’s over 180 people charged with murder,” Forestal stated, according to CBS News. “There’s 2,400 prisoners over there and a lot of them think that they want to escape and some of them take extreme measures like this guy did today, which isn’t his first alleged violent act in this community,” he continued. (RELATED: Colorado Police Officer Dies After Falling From 40-Foot Bridge While Pursuing Alleged Carjackers: Officials)
Law enforcement officials have stated that upon his release from the hospital Mitchell will be arrested on a preliminary murder charge with final charges being determined by the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, according to the Indy Star. The murder charge for Durm’s death is in addition to a murder charge Mitchell is already facing over the fatal shooting of a woman in 2022, who was killed while dropping her children off at a daycare, the outlet stated.