On the morning of September 24, 2004, the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, became the scene of a tragic confrontation involving Officer James Davis, a 31-year-old Black male who had served with the university's police department for nearly two years. The incident began around 10:00 a.m. when Officer Davis was dispatched to Hinkle Fieldhouse, a historic sports arena on campus, to investigate a report of a suspicious individual.
Witnesses had observed a man watching the women's basketball team practice for an unusual amount of time, prompting concerns that led to the call for law enforcement intervention.
Upon arriving at the scene, Officer Davis approached the subject in the parking lot to conduct a routine inquiry. He radioed dispatchers to verify the identification provided by the man, who had given the name Kevin Williams. During this procedure, the situation escalated violently. The suspect physically attacked Officer Davis and managed to wrest control of the officer's service weapon. In the ensuing struggle, the assailant fired the stolen gun, striking Officer Davis in the head. The officer was left critically injured and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital, marking a devastating loss for the department and his surviving wife and three young children.
The shooter fled the campus immediately after the attack, sparking an intense manhunt across Indianapolis. Local law enforcement agencies, including the Indianapolis Police Department and the Marion County Sheriff's Department, established a wide perimeter and began a systematic search of the surrounding neighborhoods. For several hours, the gunman remained at large, carrying the weapon he had taken from the fallen officer. Schools in the vicinity were placed on lockdown as the search intensified, with officers combing through yards and streets in an effort to locate the fugitive.
Approximately two and a half hours after the initial shooting, the search reached a conclusion in a residential area a few blocks away from the university. Two deputies from the Marion County Sheriff's Department encountered the suspect, who was later identified as 26-year-old Kahdir Al Khattab. When confronted, Al Khattab opened fire on the deputies using the stolen service weapon. The deputies returned fire, striking the suspect. He was transported to Wishard Memorial Hospital in critical condition but succumbed to his injuries later that evening. Consequently, there were no arrests or trials connected to the murder, as the sole suspect died following the shootout with police.
