INDIANAPOLIS − An Indiana State Police trooper was killed Wednesday night while trying to stop a stolen vehicle in Indianapolis.
Trooper Aaron Smith was placing stop sticks on Ronald Reagan Parkway in the state capital’s southwest side when he was struck and thrown into the air, ISP Superintendent Doug Carter told media outside Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital.
“He didn’t survive tonight,” Carter said.
There were multiple people in the fleeing car, who were also taken to Eskenazi, he said. They are all expected to survive.
Smith, who had been with Indiana State Police for about five years, is survived by his wife.
“He was one of those guys that stood out,” Carter said. “… He was a shining star for the state police.”
Smith is the second ISP trooper to be killed in the line of duty this year. Master Trooper James Bailey died after being struck by a car in early March while assisting Fort Wayne Police with stopping a fleeing vehicle on Interstate 69.
“Here we are again,” a Carter said as he began to speak Wednesday.
“I’m sorry, as you know I’m normally not without words but I don’t know what to say except the sadness continues to follow us,” he said.
Asked what he would tell his troopers after a second line-of-duty death in four months in a similar manner, Carter said: “We’ve got to keep doing what we do. … We’ve got to believe that the vast majority of people are still good people and honorable people.”
A criminal investigation is under way, he said.
