HENRY and RUSH COUNTIES, Ind. — Two men are dead, including a suspect killed by Rushville police officers, in a multi-county crime investigation led by Indiana State Police.

It began around 11:30 p.m. in Kennard in Henry County when a shooting was reported in the 2400 block of S. Kennard Road. Police said the homeowner, identified as 65-year-old Ivan Wade Flowers, or Wade as his family called him, was awakened by someone knocking at the door.

When Flowers opened the door, police said he was shot and killed by a male suspect, later identified as 34-year-old Benjamin Petry.

“I was in bed at 11:30 and I heard three shots and I ran in here and I didn’t see Wade and I looked down on the ground and there he was,” said Lea Ann Flowers, Wade’s wife. “He looked at me and that was it.”

Lea Ann said she called 911 and stayed close to the floor because she didn’t know if someone was still there and whether she was in danger, too.

“He didn’t deserve to go. Not like that,” said Lea Ann.

Police then put out a description of the suspect and his vehicle. A vehicle matching the description was spotted by Rushville police officers traveling south on State Road 3 in northern Rush County early Tuesday morning.

Officers followed the vehicle as it parked at the Speedway gas station at 1877 N. Main St. in Rushville. Police waited for Petry as he went into the store. When he came back out, officials said two officers gave him loud verbal commands.

State police said Petry “failed to follow orders and reached for a holster, drew a handgun and pointed it at the officers.” Two officers then fired their department-issued weapons, striking Petry an undetermined number of times.

The officers administered first-aid until medics arrived, but Petry was pronounced dead at the scene by the Rush County coroner.

Investigators haven’t determined the reason Petry shot and killed Flowers. However, police said the two were acquaintances and didn’t believe the shooting was a random act.

Lea Ann said she is furious and shocked this happened. She described her husband as a family man who lived for his 15-year-old daughter.

“Anybody that knew Wade Flowers knew he was a great man, a great father, a great uncle, a great person in general,” said Lea Ann.

She doesn’t feel Wade will get the justice he deserves because the man who allegedly shot him is dead, too.

According to Henry County Jail records, Petry was arrested on charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, public intoxication and intimidation on Saturday, Nov. 27 by Middletown Police. Less than a day later, on Nov. 28, he was released on bond, just one day before the deadly shooting that claimed Wade’s life.

Court records show Petry is also out on bond in a separate case from Oct., where he was being charged with intimidation and criminal mischief. This case was pending a pretrial conference scheduled in February.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case from Oct., Petry pointed a gun in a woman’s face and told her to “bite a bullet [expletive].”

He is also alleged to have cut the victim’s table chairs with an axe, kicked her dog’s cage, threw trash everywhere in her house, broke her bed and then walked outside and spread paint-thinner all over her deck and tables and cut her umbrellas with an axe.

The victim in that case told police that Petry is “always armed,” court documents stated.

Lea Ann said she still doesn’t understand why Wade was shot and killed and is now beginning the process of figuring out how to move forward and lay her husband to rest.

“He just didn’t deserve to die, no way,” she said.

The two police officers involved in the shooting weren’t injured. They are both on paid administrative leave, per department policy.

ISP is leading the investigation at the request of Rushville Police Chief Craig Tucker.