Wanda English Burnett, Editor

The exact details of why an Aurora man killed another and then himself in Sunman Monday night, July 7 are under investigation by a number of agencies.

Police responded to a 911 call Monday about 7:00 p.m. when the Dearborn County sheriff’s dispatch took the call that a shooting had occurred in a trailer court at 11600 North Hogan Road near Aurora. True to the call, officers found Brian Lacey, 30, of Aurora, dead of an apparent gunshot wound when they arrived at the mobile home.

Half an hour later at 7:30 p.m., a 911 call came in to Ripley County Communications Center from 127 S Meridian Street in Sunman. The caller, a man, told dispatchers that he had just shot Lacey.
Officers from the Ripley County Sheriff’s Department, Sunman Police Department, Indiana State Police and Dearborn County Sheriff’s Department immediately responded to the Sunman apartment the call had come from.

The area was secured and a perimeter set up with the Indiana State Police Emergency Response Team called. The stand-off lasted until about 1:34 a.m. when members of the ISP Emergency Response Team entered the apartment to find Holland dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. It was not certain at press time when Holland actually died, but some officers at the scene said they didn’t hear a gunshot.

There were several bystanders at the scene, according to Sunman Town Marshal Bill Dramann. While he was disturbed that people would bring their children to watch, he understands the nature of human curiosity. “I just think bringing children is wrong,” he told The Versailles Republican.

The investigation is being led by the Dearborn County Special Crimes Unit, assisted by the Indiana State Police, Dearborn County Prosecutor’s Office, Dearborn County Coroner’s Office, Ripley County Sheriff’s Office, Sunman and Milan police departments, and the Ripley County Coroner’s Office.
“It was a collective effort of many agencies,” noted Sheriff Tom Grills, after the stand-off came to an end in the early morning hours on Tuesday, July 8.