A southern Indiana coroner says a man slain by an officer was in the midst of a schizophrenic episode when he swung a baseball bat at the officer.
An Evansville police officer fatally shot 55-year-old Ricky Ard outside a federal courthouse where he had smashed windows with a bat Tuesday, a day after being escorted from that building.
Vanderburgh County Coroner Steve Lockyear tells the Evansville Courier & Press Ard was having a schizophrenic episode and was fixated on an Evansville businessman's unsolved 1977 car-bombing death when he encountered the officer.
A statement from Ard's family says he "had a long, documented history of mental illness."
A preliminary police investigation found the officer was justified in shooting Ard.
A police video shows the officer attempt to use a stun gun on Ard, and Ard swinging a bat at the officer before he fired.