Shelbyville City Police Respond to Report of Shots Fired Inside a Home

Shelbyville, IN – Late Tuesday evening of February 14^th the Shelbyville City Police Department contacted the Indiana State Police to conduct an investigation of a police action shooting involving a member of the Shelbyville City Police Department.

Preliminary investigation by the state police has determined that shortly after 10:30 p.m. on the evening of February 14^th officers of the Shelbyville Police Department responded to the report of shots fired inside a home located at 1103 Fallway Court, Shelbyville, IN 46176.  One officer arrived at the front of the address and spoke with a family member standing outside the home as two other Shelbyville City officers arrived and approached the back of the house off of Premiere Street.

As the two officers approached the home they saw a person later identified as Steven C. Oliger, 64, who was a resident of the home, on the back deck of the home, and he was armed with a revolver.  The two officers reportedly yelled out to the officer at the front of the house that there was an armed person on the back deck at which time Oliger is reported to have fired a shot from his revolver.  The officer at the front of the house then approached from the east side of the home and fired one shot from a .223 rifle toward the direction of Oliger, at which time Oliger fell onto the deck of the home and was later pronounced dead at the scene from an apparent gunshot wound to his head.

Members of the state police were at the scene through the evening and into the morning hours of February 15^th continuing the investigation.  It is expected there will be an autopsy later in the day of February 15^th to determine Oliger’s cause of death.

It is important to note this investigation is only a few hours old and it is not conclusive that the gunshot wound Oliger suffered was the result of being shot by the Shelbyville police officer.  State police detectives are also investigating the possibility Oliger’s wound to the head may have been self-inflicted with the revolver from which he had previously fired at least two shots.  It is anticipated the autopsy should provide more definitive information about the cause and manner of death.