INDIANAPOLIS -- Responding to an overturned vehicle on Marion County's south side Thursday afternoon, Southport police Lt. Aaron Allan expected to be met by someone in need.
Instead, as he approached what he thought was a victim in a serious crash, he was met by fatal rounds of gunfire, shot multiple times.
According to police documents filed Thursday afternoon by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, 28-year-old Jason Brown was the one who fired shots from inside the overturned vehicle.
Those close to Brown say that's not who he is.
Brown is a tattoo artist at a south side parlor, the father of a 3-year-old boy and described by Traci Wagner, someone who's known him his whole life, as shy and timid.
"Jason's just not a person who will go out here a wave a gun or shoot a cop," Wagner said. "Something had to have happened. I don't know if the wreck triggered something in his mind. I don't know if they were being chased. I don't know. I don't know."
The investigation of what led up to the fatal shooting of a six-year veteran of the Southport Police Department in ongoing, with much of the specifics yet to be revealed.
Brown was taken to Eskenazi Hospital. According to the documents, he was arrested on suspicion of murder and a marijuana possession charge.
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Wagner said the overturned car Lt. Allan was responding to assist belongs to Brown.
Wagner said Brown lived in her house before his current address near the scene of the shooting.
Brown's criminal history shows four infractions and one misdemeanor on his record. The 2013 misdemeanor was a charge of possession of marijuana or a synthetic cannabinoid. He was found guilty and sentenced to 30 days in a county jail.
On Brown's Facebook page, he frequently shares photos of tattoos he's done, along with photos of his son.
"Jason lives for three things: tattoos, skateboarding and his son," Wagner said.
Brown did have a gun permit and was known to carry a weapon, but he didn't flash it, Wagner said.
Wagner stressed that her heart goes out to Allan's family.
"I'm sad for them. My heart breaks for them. I'd love to hug them and tell them I'm sorry," Wagner said, her voice breaking. "And tell them if there was something we could do to fix it, we would. But we can't. And we just have to figure it out."
But she's confused, like so many others, because this seems very out of character for Brown.
"He's shy, he's timid," she said. "He's just not ... he's not ... How would you say it? He's not the kind of person who goes out and creates trouble."
Editor's Note: A mugshot has not yet been produced for Brown, as he has been hospitalized due to his injuries.
FULL COVERAGE | Family of Lt. Aaron Allan issues statement | Funeral arrangements set for Southport police Lt. Aaron Allan | Hours before he was killed, Lt. Aaron Allan walked his son to his first day of kindergarten | Remembering Southport police Lt. Aaron Allan: A father, a husband & first to rush to those in need | Fellow officer on Lt. Aaron Allan: "The footprints he left are huge" | Southport officer thought he was responding to a routine crash, instead he was shot to death | Owner of shop where suspected cop killer Jason Brown worked: "Please don't condemn us all" | Kokomo boy sells lemonade to raise funds for Lt. Aaron Allan's family | Police wear black band across badge to honor fallen officers
