COLUMBUS, Ind. – The man who was shot and injured by a Columbus Police Department (CPD) officer on June 27, was recently released from the hospital. He was then arrested for attempted murder and other charges.
After an investigation by Indiana State Police (ISP), it was determined that in the early morning hours of Sunday, June 27, CPD Sgt. Lukas Nibarger responded to a house in the 3000 block of Grove Parkway to investigate a suspicious person on the property. He encountered a man later identified as Jacob Dale Rice, 38, of Columbus.
Rice supposedly ignored the officer’s verbal commands two times and attempted to flee on foot. Investigators allege that the suspect fired one round from a firearm in the direction of the officer, who was not hit and was able to return fire with his department-issued handgun striking Rice one time. The wounded suspect was flown to IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis for treatment of serious injuries.
The ISP inquiry revealed that Rice had apparently stolen the firearm used in the shooting from a vehicle in the Columbus area before his interaction with Sgt. Nibarger.
Rice was released from the hospital last week, arrested on unrelated warrants, and incarcerated at Bartholomew County Jail. Shortly thereafter, law enforcement added additional charges related to this case which include attempted murder, unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, theft of a firearm, and theft of property (over $750).
