In the early morning hours of September 20, 2013, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Officer Rod Bradway, a 41-year-old male, responded to a domestic disturbance call at the Eagle Pointe Apartment complex. Upon his arrival at approximately 1:50 a.m., he heard a woman screaming for help from inside one of the apartments. This prompted Officer Bradway to make a courageous decision to force entry into the residence to aid the distressed woman.
As he breached the door, he was
immediately met with gunfire. Hiding behind the door was 24-year-old Steven Byrdo, who had been holding a woman and her infant daughter hostage for three hours. Byrdo fired his. 380-caliber handgun at least six times, striking Officer Bradway in the chest above his bullet-resistant vest. Despite being mortally wounded, Officer Bradway managed to return fire, striking Byrdo.
A second officer arriving at the scene engaged Byrdo, who was then fatally shot. Byrdo, a convicted felon who had been released on parole three months earlier for drug-related offenses, was killed in the exchange of gunfire. Officer Bradway was rushed to Wishard Memorial Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries two hours later. The woman and her child inside the apartment were physically unharmed. Officer Bradway, a five-year veteran of the police department and a former volunteer firefighter, was survived by his wife and two teenage children. He was posthumously awarded the department's Medal of Honor and Purple Heart for his heroic actions that saved the lives of the mother and her child.
