LAFAYETTE, IN — James Robert Allison apparently lived a quiet, ordinary life at his home on Stillwell Street, where he’d lived since May 1998. He never had any contact with police until early April 12.
On that night, Allison, a 66-year-old retired electrician, appeared drunk, carrying a rifle and yelling incoherently at new neighbors who just moved in two doors from Allison’s house, according to police 911 recordings and video footage of Allison’s last minutes of life that were reviewed Thursday by the Journal & Courier.
Nothing about those 12:15 a.m. 911 calls or his behavior on police dashcam align with his past of being a dedicated father, grandfather and kind-hearted neighbor, as described in his obituary. Police said the only record of him in their database was decades old and was for a car accident.
A court record check shows nothing against Allison in Tippecanoe County, where Allison lived, graduating in 1978 from Harrison High School.
“There’s a man pointing a gun at my boyfriend,” a woman told 911 dispatchers.
“That motherf—er over there is done,” Allison is heard saying in the background on the 911 recording. “I’m going to break that motherf—er.”
Allison fixates on a silver pickup truck parked on Stillwell in front of the house where he died minutes later.
“That silver motherf—er is bad news!” Allison yelled. “The people, I know who ran this place was good people. I liked them!”
Police don’t know who Allison was referring to or whether he meant the people who lived in the house before the 911 caller recently moved into the home.
Officers arriving on the scene at 12:18 a.m. found Allison standing near the silver pickup truck and told others over their radios, “He is not listening.”
Dashcam video shows the first officer arriving on the scene and yelling at Allison to drop his gun.
“I’m not dropping shit!” Allison responds.
“That motherf—er in that truck, you got to get rid of them,” he tells officers, alleging there were bodies in the truck. “I’m trying to evict that evil son-of-a-bitch in there.”
There weren’t any bodies in the truck, police said.
“Will you just drop the gun so we can talk?” another Lafayette officer yells at Allison.
Allison held the rifle by its pistol grip in his right hand and its barrel pointed at the ground. He then moved the rifle across his body, tucking the stock under his left arm with the barrel pointed down and to the rear, according to the dashcam video. Allison then reached his right hand to his pocket or his waistband and pulled out a pistol.
“He’s got another gun!” an officer yelled to warn other officers.
“You’re damn right I do!” Allison responded.
A few seconds later, Allison raised the pistol and pointed it at officers along 22nd Street, according to the video.
What followed was six officers firing a total of 42 shots at Allison, who fell mortally wounded to the pavement.
It was 12:21 a.m., about three minutes after officers arrived.
Officers retrieved a ballistic shield from their cars, then approached Allison in a defense formation to check on him. They then began life-saving assistance, but it was too late. Allison was dead.
The Lafayette police shooting review board cleared the officers of any violation of the department’s policies, and the prosecutor’s office cleared the officers of criminal culpability.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Video shows man pointing gun at Lafayette police before he was killed
Reporting by Ron Wilkins, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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