(BAY MINETTE) The Baldwin County Sheriffs Office revealed new information in the shooting death of one of its own Monday morning.
Deputy Scott Ward was shot and killed Friday in the Marlow community in Baldwin County, south of Fairhope. Monday we learned Sgt. Curtis Summerlin was injured in the shooting. A third deputy, Rob Lindell was also at the call and was uninjured.
Baldwin County District Attorney Hallie Dixon said her office is looking into the shooting incident, which is standard procedure. She said there is nothing to indicate the deputies acted inappropriately.
The Daphne Police Department is assisting in the investigaiton. Lt. Jud Beedy said during the news conference it appears suspect Michael Jansen fired at the deputies first from inside the home, then came outside as the gunfire continued. Jansen was killed by the deputies at the scene.
Beedy said Jansen had been committed to Searcy twice in the past, the last time in 2010. Officials said they are working with the U.S. Department of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives to trace the history of the gun Jansen used. Dixon also said Jansen should have never been in possession of a gun, having been committed to a mental facility in the past.
Beedy says Jansen's mother call 911 and requested medical units to his home. She told law enforcement her son had been acting irate. She wanted medical units to check on her son's welfare.
Sheriff Huey "Hoss" Mack said Sgt. Summerlin was shot in the leg and the arm. He is at USA Medical Center where he has undergone two surgeries, the latest Monday morning. Summerlin is an 11-year veteran of the BCSO.
Deputy Ward was an 18-year law enforcement veteran, the past 15 years he served with the BCSO. Deputy Ward is also a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He is survived by his mother, a wife and several in-laws.
Deputy Lindell is a one-year veteran of the BCSO.
A wake for Deputy Ward will be held Monday night at Wolfe-Bayview Funeral Home in Fairhope from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Fairhope Civic Center. Burial will follow at Fairhope Memory Gardens Cemetery.
The Baldwin County Sheriffs Office has not had an officer killed in the line of duty since Oct. 1987 when Deputy Howard Dutton was killed in Robertsdale.
