UPDATE:
Prosecutors filed murder charges against Anvictor Butler this week. Police say the shooting suspect drove a stolen car to the gas station. The shooting victim then tried to steal the previously stolen car when he was shot and killed by Butler. The car’s owner confirms Butler did not own the car.
ORIGINAL STORY:
INDIANAPOLIS– An Indianapolis man is behind bars accused of murder after police said he shot and killed someone who was trying to steal his car.
At about 9:50 a.m. on Tuesday, police were called to Southeastern Ave. and S. Emerson Ave. in response to a report of a person shot.
With surveillance cameras rolling at the Marathon gas station, police believe an attempted car theft turned deadly.
“I mean, it’s painful. It hurts man,” said the victim’s brother, Michael Hadley.
Hadley’s younger brother, 30-year-old Dustin Phipps, died after being rushed to the hospital.
“Dustin wasn’t a dangerous or violent person at all, so it really struck me. It hurt me. That’s my little brother,” said Hadley.
After the shooting, Hadley’s brother drove a white Chevy head first into a tree.
Hours later, police arrested 46-year-old Anvictor Butler for murder.
Court records now claim Butler got out of the driver’s seat of the Chevy and went into the gas station. That’s when Phipps could be seen getting out of the passenger seat of a second vehicle and getting into Butler’s car.
As the car began to drive away, police say Butler ran outside and fired two shots into the driver’s-side window.
“Knowing Dustin, he’s not a fighter. I’m sure he was scared to death, and he took off and was shot in the back as he drove away,” said Hadley.
The affidavit claims that while the suspect left the scene after the shooting, he later hired an attorney who contacted police and turned himself in.
Hadley admitted his brother had struggled to deal with the loss of both parents in recent years. The 30-year-old lived with and served as caretaker for their elderly grandmother. Hadley just wishes the whole situation could have been avoided.
“He was in a pretty deep place, and it just hurts me to know there could have been other ways to reach out to him and assist him and lead him away from this incident,” said Hadley. “Nobody is getting into scuffles anymore. People are carrying guns around, and they’re shooting to kill.”
For now, the suspect is being held without bond pending the filing of formal charges.
