Longtime Marion County deputy killed during escape attempt
Marion County IN July 11th, 2023 A Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputy of nearly four decades died Monday after being assaulted inside a jail sally port during an escape attempt. The suspect then stole the transport vehicle and crashed it into a telephone pole, according to police.
John Durm, a Marion County deputy for 38 years, died at Eskenazi Hospital shortly after the attack occurred.
Law enforcement officials said Durm was returning the attacker to the jail about 11:30 a.m. after a hospital visit when the violent escape attempt unfolded. The suspect was alone in the van when he drove it through the gates of the Community Justice Campus, then crashed into a utility pole just outside the parking lot, in the 3000 block of Prospect Street.
Sheriff’s deputies at the scene apprehended the attacker, who was minorly injured and taken to a hospital. Chris Bailey, assistant chief of police for Indianapolis, said the attack appeared to be an “intentional act of homicide.”
Durm’s cause of death has not been released.
Marion County Sheriff Kerry Forestal said Durm’s son is in training to work for the sheriff’s office. Durm’s wife also works for the sheriff’s office in its medical office.
“John was just a good guy, he really was,” a tearful Forestal said.
The suspect in Durm’s killing has been identified as 34-year-old Orlando Mitchell. Police said Mitchell will be arrested on a preliminary murder charge after he is released from the hospital. The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office will determine final charges.
Mitchell is facing another murder charge in the fatal shooting of a woman last year, who died while dropping her kids off at daycare on the west side of Indianapolis. According to court records, investigators found Mitchell several hours after the shooting when a 911 caller reported that a man at a bus stop near 10th and Delaware streets said he killed his girlfriend at the same address of the daycare. When they tracked Mitchell to the area, police said he was holding a rifle and did not drop the weapon. Two officers fired and struck Mitchell, who was taken to a hospital in stable condition.
Officers and detectives gather at the scene where a suspect crashed a jail wagon after stealing it Monday, July 10, 2023, on Prospect Street just outside the Community Justice Campus in Indianapolis. Marion County Sheriff’s Office Deputy John Durm was killed in the escape attempt.
Durm’s death comes just days after Indiana State Police Trooper Aaron Smith was laid to rest. Smith was killed June 28 after being stuck while putting out stop strips attempting to end a pursuit involving a stolen vehicle. The vehicle slammed into Smith before crashing. Two people were arrested, one facing a murder charge.
“This happens just too often in the lines of law enforcement,” Forestal said.
