ETOWAH COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) — The Etowah County Sheriff's Office discussed an officer-involved shooting investigation during a press conference Thursday afternoon.
Sheriff Jonathon Horton stated that a Sardis City police officer was called to the town's middle school at around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.
School officials reported that a student's father was observed driving the wrong way out of the car drop-off line. The man responded aggressively when confronted by the school's principal.
The officer spoke with the man, who was inside his car on the school's property, for a few minutes. He was ordered to step out of the vehicle, as the officer reportedly smelled alcohol on him. The man refused and drove off to his home on Lawson Gap Road, with the officer pursuing him.
“With the smell of alcohol on the subject, [the officer] believed the subject was intoxicated to the point where he didn’t need to be on the road," Sardis Police Chief William Alexander said. "When the subject took off and left, he felt like that was endangering the public. They actually passed our high school in the process of the chase which could have endangered even more students at that time. Basically, a DUI, or possible DUI, turned into a lot more than it should have because of the suspect's choices.”
Once parked on his property, the man exited the car and began shooting at the officer with a handgun. The officer returned fire, and the man was shot and pronounced dead at the scene.
“Fortunately, the officer was unharmed. His vehicle was heavily damaged from the suspect’s fired shots, was disabled from the fired shots," Sheriff Horton said. "We’re very thankful that the Sardis Police Officer, that will remain unnamed and not be identified at this time, is good and returned to his family.”
Horton confirmed the suspect's identity as Ian Daniel Sullivan, 54, of Boaz. He had no prior criminal history or known history of mental health issues.
“Unfortunately, if you pull a weapon and you fire it at someone or a law enforcement officer, the end result should be that you’re fired back at," Horton said. “I just hate that these events occurred the way they did but we didn’t make those decisions. Just thankful that they ended as well as they could.”
The police officer was uninjured in the shooting and is on paid administrative leave as the investigation continues.
“None of us get up every day and want something like this to ever happen," Horton said. "I think the good Lord looks out for us and this particular officer had just particularly went through some training to prepare for an event like this.”
Chief Alexander says last Tuesday, a Boaz training officer held a class on patrol rifle and switching between a rifle and handgun. Horton believes that training is what allowed the police officer to survive.
“[The officer] said ‘I didn’t know it’, he said ‘but I think God was preparing me for what He knew was coming’. He said ‘because I hadn’t really had the opportunity to shoot that much this year’, when he normally shoots a lot," Alexander said. "He said he took that class last Tuesday, he said he went out three days after the class and practiced the techniques that they were teaching and then [Wednesday] he was involved in a shooting and he was able to implement the tactics and do it exactly how he was taught.”
Etowah County Schools Superintendent Alan Cosby says fortunately, most students were inside the building when the incident started and not many even knew something was happening outside.
“We’re in the process of checking on [Sullivan's son] and we will continue to do so throughout this process and to avail any services that we may have, not only to help him but to help the family,” Cosby said.
The full press conference can be watched in the video player above.