Prosecutor rules BPD suspect shooting justified

After holding his wife hostage Monday and failing to comply with police negotiations, Richard W. North was fatally shot by a member of the Bloomington Police Critical Incident Response Team.

In response, two investigations took place into the entire situation as well as into the involvement of the sniper.

BPD Lt. Bill Parker said he would lead the first investigation, which  would be reviewed by the prosecutor’s office, and Capt. Tony Pope will conduct an internal investigation that will go before the BPD Board of Safety.

Tuesday, Monroe County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Bob Miller reviewed around 40 pages of officer and witness accounts and made a decision.

“Based on a review of actions of the officer, it was justified,” Jeff Kehr, first deputy prosecutor, said.

At 1:25 p.m. Aug. 1, a 911 call alerted the Bloomington Police Department of a violent felon in possession of a gun in the Cook Pharmica parking lot at 1300 S. Patterson Drive

But what started North, 50, shooting at his vehicle in the parking lot soon turned into a hostage situation.

As officers arrived on the scene, they reported seeing North and his wife, Teresa, 47, walking down Rogers Street with North’s arm around her neck and a gun to her head.
Why the situation began is still unknown.

“When officers arrived, he was holding the female more or less in a headlock,” Parker said.

With Teresa in one arm and a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol in the other, North paused on Rogers and fired a shot toward responding officers.

The decisions that followed can be chalked up to protocol, Parker said, because North was not an active shooter or someone who had begun shooting at civilians. Members of the BPD and CIRT had time to try and negotiate.

“We have time to get people to the scene,” Parker said. “We try to, in this kind of circumstance, play out for time. We try to deflect the situation.”

As North made his way to the John’s Food Mart parking lot at the corner of Rogers and Rockport, playing out their time meant bringing in the BPD’s negotiation team.
Officers surrounded the area as a negotiator spoke with North from behind a police vehicle a few feet from the suspect.

When negotiations failed to make North release Teresa and drop his weapon, the Critical Incident Response Team shot North.

“Members of the CIRT are set up to respond as quickly as possible,” Parker said. “The first ones arriving on the scene set up and are deployed. The command staff provides situational authority and an element of control.”

So the decision to shoot did not belong to the sniper alone, it first passed through a level of protocol and command.