Investigation details released

An investigation has determined that the May 1 officer-involved shooting in Portland was justified.

In a press release issued late Thursday morning, Jay County prosecutor Wes Schemenaur said the Indiana State Police investigation showed Portland police officer Mitchell Rigby was “justified in using deadly force … in order to prevent serious bodily injury to himself or others in the area.”

The shooting resulted in the death of Spencer Calvert, 21, Muncie, a 2017 Jay County High School graduate. Rigby was placed on administrative leave following the incident, which is standard procedure in such situations.

State police interviewed 16 witnesses, including nine civilians, the press release said. The investigation also involved “extensive forensic evidence” and a review of police body camera footage.

Rigby was dispatched to the intersection of Park and High streets at 4:27 p.m. May 1 in response to a call about a “suicidal individual who was wielding a knife.” Schemenaur’s press release summarizing the state police investigation lays out the following details of the incident that followed:

Upon arriving at the scene, Rigby found Calvert holding a small dog and a kitchen knife 10 to 12 inches long. Calvert ignored a command to drop the knife, instead dropping the dog, turning away from Rigby and beginning to stab himself. He then ran east on High Street toward the former Judge Haynes Elementary School, which at that time was being used as a temporary daycare for IU Health Jay employees during the coronavirus pandemic. (The former school property sits two blocks to the east of the location of the initial call.) Several children were on the playground.

Steve Schlechty and Chad Chowning of Portland Police Department, and Tony Henderson, Tony Lennartz and Kevin Pugh of Jay County Sheriff’s Office joined Rigby in responding to the incident.

Calvert continued running toward the school building and around its east side (near Western Avenue) and then toward the playground on the south side of the building. He stabbed himself with the knife “numerous times” during the encounter.

Officers attempted to use a stun gun to disable Calvert on three separate occasions, but each was ineffective because only one of the probes connected. Calvert was also given more than 50 oral commands to drop the knife, all of which were ignored.

Lennartz also struck Calvert with a wooden chair three times in an attempt to dislodge the knife. All of those attempts failed, with the chair eventually breaking.

The incident finally came to an end near the intersection of Walnut and Alexander streets at the southwest corner of the Judge Haynes property.

According to Schemenaur’s release, police and civilian eyewitnesses told state police investigators that Calvert was charging at Rigby with the knife raised in a threatening manner when Rigby fired five shots. Rigby’s body camera footage confirmed those accounts, the release adds. Calvert was approximately 5 to 10 feet away from Rigby when the shots were fired. All five shots struck Calvert, with at least one penetrating his chest and proving fatal.

“The loss of human life is a tragedy and my sincere condolences go out to Calvert’s family and friends on their loss,” said Schemenaur in the release. “However, during the entire 11-12-minute encounter between the officers and Calvert, multiple, non-lethal methods were employed against Calvert in an attempt to subdue him. These facts, coupled with Calvert continuing to stab himself, the presence of multiple bystanders, including children from the nearby daycare, and Calvert’s final charge at Officer Rigby with the knife raised, lead to the conclusion that Officer Rigby was justified in using deadly force against Calvert in order to prevent serious bodily injury to himself or others in the area.”

He cited Indiana Code, which says someone is justified in using deadly force if they reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent serious bodily injury to themselves or someone else.

Schemenaur issued an initial press release within a few hours after the incident May 1. He confirmed Calvert as the deceased a week later, after it had been shared by family and friends on social media.

Thursday morning’s press release marked the first information that has been made available since then.

“I understand the great public interest in this matter and appreciate the public’s patience in awaiting the outcome of the investigation,” Schemenaur said, addressing the nearly four weeks that passed between the time of the shooting and today’s release of detailed information. “Great care must be taken by law enforcement in the release of information about the investigation while the investigation is ongoing. The release of information about the case before all of the facts are known could materially prejudice the investigation, and thereby the rights of everyone involved. The lack of information released while the investigation was pending rests solely at my feet and not with the State Police or any other agency. While some may complain about the lack of information being released before today, I wholeheartedly believe that this allowed the investigation to proceed free from speculation, misinformation, rumor, or innuendo.”