Photo: Paola Marizan (WNIN News)

Ricky Ard's body is removed from the scene at the federal building in Evansville.

A southern Indiana coroner says a man slain by an officerwas 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 businessmans unsolved 1977 car-bombing death when he encountered the officer.

A statement from Ards 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.

Link:
Evansville Man Killed By Police Was Having Mental Episode - Indiana Public Media