Suspect Killed By New Albany Police Was 15-Year-Old High School Student

By Jay Warren

(NEW ALBANY, Ind., November 18th, 2003, 7 p.m.) -- A suspect shot and killed by New Albany police Monday night has been identified as a 15-year-old student at New Albany High School.

According to police, 15-year-old Brandon Erdman was shot and killed after he stabbed 33-year-old Laura Schook in the neck as they struggled in an alley behind Oak and Elm Streets in New Albany.

Two officers had been responding to a report of a man threatening a clerk at a Swifty gas station with an 8- or 9-inch military style knife found Erdman in the alley shortly after 9 p.m. Monday.

Police say Schook shot Erdman after he stabbed her. Another officer also fired at Erdman after he threatened him with the knife.

According to Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson, Erdman's problems began much earlier than that. "Starting this past Saturday ... he had had some problems, police had been called by his mother for some threatening behavior.

According to Erdman's mother, Mindy Hardin, he called her from a phone booth at the Swifty station, asking her to come pick him up. Erdman, who police describe as a troubled teen, was set to be sent back to Florida to live with his father, which is what he wanted. However, Hardin tells WAVE 3 News she was in no position to give her son a ride since Erdman had kicked out her windshield.

"I was the last call he made. And he said, 'Mom, you gotta come and get me.' And I said, 'Brandon, you busted out my windshield, mom can't come and get you.' So I sent a family member, and by the time she got to where he was the whole alley was full."

Henderson said officers had no other choice but to fire. "Officer Schook approached the suspect in an alley, observed that he had a weapon, a knife, ordered the suspect to drop the weapon." But police say Erdman didn't drop the weapon but instead lunged at Schook, who suffered a stab wound to the neck before opening fire.

Schook fired twice at Erdman, once from the time, and the second officer, Craig Pumphrey, fired three shots. It's not yet clear whether all five shots hit Erdman.

As part of standard operating procedure, both Schook and Pumphrey have been suspended with pay pending the outcome of an investigation that will involve Indiana State Police.

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