Martinsville officer shot

MARTINSVILLE -- Tommy Pruitt desperately wanted to avoid going back to jail. \nBut now he's looking at life in prison.\nAfter being pulled over early afternoon Thursday by Sgt. Daniel Starnes, Pruitt initiated a fierce gun battle at near-point blank range. Both men were severely wounded in the exchange.\nStarnes, a warrant officer with the Morgan County Sheriff's Department, stopped Pruitt on suspicion of a suspended license at about 12:30 p.m. on Wilbur Road, three miles west of Martinsville. Pruitt later told police he had been driving to Mooresville to cash a check.\nStarnes, who was accompanied by his 19-year-old son Ryan, asked Pruitt for identification, which he took back to his squad car to process. He then returned and ordered Pruitt to step out of his vehicle with his hands in the air.\nPruitt confessed to Indiana State Police investigators Friday that he then burst out of the car with a .45-caliber Ruger semiautomatic handgun he had stolen from the MC Sports in Bloomington last Saturday. An ex-con, Pruitt isn't allowed to legally possess firearms. \nHe told Starnes to drop his weapon and leave, police said. Starnes kept his hand near his still-holstered .40-caliber pistol. Starnes repeatedly asked him to move his hand away from his gun. \nPanicking, Pruitt fired an errant shot at Ryan in the passenger seat of the squad car, assuming he was another armed officer. The bullet grazed Ryan's right side, injuring him slightly. \nStanding about seven feet away from Starnes, Pruitt then fired seven shots at him, hitting him five times. Four shots lodged in his torso and another shattered the bones in his hand. Although he was bleeding heavily, Starnes managed to unload all 12 rounds from his sidearm.\nHe hit Pruitt in the side and chest seven times, sending him to the ground.\nAfter the smoke had cleared, Starnes staggered back to his car and radioed for help.\nRyan -- a criminal justice major at Vincennes University -- popped the trunk of his father's car and retrieved a shotgun. He kept it trained on Pruitt until officers arrived on the scene. \nStarnes was taken by helicopter to Indianapolis where he was admitted to Methodist Hospital in critical condition. A hospital spokesman said Sunday that he's now in stable condition, with "a long way to go."\nDuring surgery, three feet of his intestines had to be removed because of damage inflicted by one of the several shots to his torso. But doctors said Starnes resumed breathing on his own Friday and appeared headed to a full recovery. \nThe community has come forward with an outpouring of concern and donations to Starnes's family, Chief Deputy Volitta Fritsche said.\n"We have been overwhelmed with the public response," she said. "We deeply appreciate all of your prayers."\nPruitt was taken to Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis, where he is in critical condition. Morgan County Superior Court Judge Thomas Gray issued an arrest warrant, and Pruitt has been moved to the detention unit until his condition allows him to be taken to the county jail.\nPruitt, Fritsche said, has a "lengthy" criminal record that includes a conviction for armed robbery.\nIndiana State Police Detective Rick Lang coaxed a confession out of Pruitt Friday morning. In his statement, he told Lang he felt paranoid about the police after breaking into the Bloomington MC Sports June 9 and stealing three handguns. He kept a police scanner in his car and decided he didn't want to serve another prison term after he heard Starnes running his plates, Lang said.\nAt the end of the interview, Lang asked Pruitt why he stopped firing. He had several rounds left in his clip, and police later found another loaded firearm in his car.\nHis response: "I thought he'd been hit enough and so had I, so I just quit."\nMorgan County Prosecutor Terry Iacoli charged Pruitt with two class A felony counts of attempted murder, three counts of receiving stolen property, possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon and possession of a handgun without a license. Pruitt could also be charged for robbery in Monroe County, but Prosecutor Carl Salzman said Sunday he won't make a decision until he receives the police report this week.\nStill, Iacoli said Pruitt, 39, would likely spend the rest of his life in prison.