EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — A man accused of shooting at police from an Evansville hotel room last April was found guilty on multiple charges.
The Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office says a jury found Richard Howard Thomas Jr. guilty of three counts of attempted aggravated battery as a lesser included offense of attempted murder.
We’re told he was also found guilty of criminal confinement, possession of methamphetamine, possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, battery by means of a deadly weapon and criminal recklessness.
The charges stem back to a shootout at a Quality Inn & Suites room last year. According to officials, Howard shot at Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office deputies and an Indiana State Police trooper during an hours-long standoff.
Officials say he fired a gun at them through the hotel room door ten times. After hours of negotiations, Howard surrendered to law enforcement.
“Our law enforcement bravely charge into situations, as here, where their lives may be in danger,” said Prosecutor Moers, “We are very pleased to secure convictions that punish those who would harm them. The Prosecutor’s Office firmly believes that any violence toward law enforcement is unacceptable and we will prosecute those cases to the fullest extent permitted by law.”
He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 31, 2023 in front of Magistrate Judge Ryan C. Reed of the Vanderburgh Circuit Court.
