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Delaware Co. corrections officer who held man at gunpoint loses job

Posted at 3:42 PM, Dec 13, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-13 15:42:38-05

MUNCIE, Ind. -- A Delaware County corrections officer recorded on video holding a man at gunpoint last month has been terminated from his job, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.

Jerry Shaner was shown in a video posted to Twitter holding a man at gunpoint in the parking lot of a nail salon on Tillotson Avenue in Muncie.

In the video, Shaner can be heard saying, “You picked the wrong ----ing house to try to get into.”

MORE | Delaware County jail officer holds man at gunpoint in Muncie

Police arrived and determined there was no evidence that the man, who may suffer from mental illness, had committed a crime.

"To detain someone, you have the right to do that if you think a crime has been committed. I think that is what he was trying to do," said Muncie Police Chief Joe Winkle. "Once we got there we realized who we were dealing with. We've had calls on this subject before. He's got some mental health issues. My officers recognized him and had dealt with him. Once we realized no crime had been committed we released him to his family."

On Wednesday, the sheriff’s department said Shaner had been dismissed from his job following an internal review of the incident.

The case has also been forwarded on to the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office for review.

In response to the incident, Delaware County Sheriff Ray Dudley says he has begun forming a civilian review board to oversee the conduct of the sheriff’s office personnel during the performance of their duties.

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