Ripley Co. Prosecutor Releases Findings on Officer Involved Shooting

The State's findings that the officers acted within their rights of self-defense to use deadly force.

File photo.

(Sunman, Ind.) – Ripley County Prosecuting Attorney Ric Hertel announced Friday findings from an officer involved shooting in Sunman.

The incident at hand was a fatal shooting that occurred on October 10, 2021, at a home in the 8000 block of East Country Road North.

Four officers from three separate agencies, including Indiana State Police, Versailles Police, and the Ripley County Sheriff’s Office, rushed to the home after learning that the situation was a domestic disturbance involving an armed individual, Joshua Ebinger. 

According to the report, Ebinger could be heard during the 911 call engaging in a profane tirade to the effect that the “system” was responsible for his behavior and that “they better make sure they kill me…or I’m going to kill one of them.”  

Officers arrived on scene and staged at a safe distance away from the residence in order to form a tactical plan to deescalate and resolve the situation.

Ebinger was given multiple verbal commands to come out of the residence and surrender, but he initially refused to come out.

He eventually came out of the home with a semiautomatic handgun. An officer with Versailles Police got close to Ebinger in attempt to physically subdue him. 

During a review of body cam footage, Ebinger was seen pointing the firearm in various directions and eventually pointed the gun directly at an ISP Trooper.

During the standoff, the Trooper would fire his AR-15 at Ebinger, striking him with multiple gunshots. Despite medical intervention at the scene, Ebinger was pronounced dead shortly after being shot.

Following the incident, the investigation revealed that Ebinger had been convicted of battery against the female who called in the domestic disturbance. He was on probation for that offense and was in violation of a no-contact order.

The State’s findings that the officers acted within their personal rights to self-defense and their legal authority to use deadly force.

According to Prosecutor Hertel’s report, the evidence supports two separate legal justification defenses based on Ebinger pointing a firearm directly at an officer, combined with his earlier behavior toward the female in the home.

“Dispatch and the officers created a reasonable belief that Ebinger intended to inflict serious bodily injury to the officers and/or commit a forcible felony. Further, the officers, who were acting in their official capacity, were in a place where they had a right and duty to be and while there, were placed in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily harm based on Ebinger’s actions that day. Ebinger created an immediate and potentially deadly threat to the officers that justified the use of deadly force under two separate legal justifications,” the report reads.

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