Police have identified the second victim in a double homicide Monday at New Albany gas station.
According to a news release, 43-year-old Louisville resident Lorin M. Yelle was walking to his car after paying for gas when he was shot and killed by Cherok Douglass, 37.
Cherok Douglass is also accused of shooting and killing his wife, 38-year-old Brandee Douglass, at that store. Police say they don’t believe Yelle had any connection to the two.
The suspect was hospitalized Monday for injuries after police shot at him while they say he was driving toward them.
He’s charged with felony kidnapping and robbery after police say he took a woman hostage at gunpoint Monday later that day. He’s not been charged in the homicides at the gas station.
Court records show officers with the New Albany Police Department, Floyd County Sheriff’s Department and Indiana State Police pursued Cherok Douglass after he left the gas station, where they believe the suspect had shot and killed the two people.
New Albany Police Chief Todd Bailey said in a statement Monday that officers responded just after 10 a.m. to the Circle K on a report of a shooting.
There, Bailey said, police found the two victims, both dead from apparent gunshot wounds.
Officers pursued the suspect, who they said fled in a red SUV before abandoning it near Kamer Miller Road. Court records say he soon after took a woman hostage at gunpoint at the Onion Restaurant and Teahouse, forcing her into her car before hitting her with it and breaking several of her bones.
Court records show that officers “located Cherok [Douglass] in the vehicle and began to order him to stop the vehicle and exit it. Cherok failed to comply which resulted in Cherok being shot by officers.”
Huls said Monday that the suspect was driving toward law enforcement when officers with the New Albany Police Department and Floyd County shot at him.
An investigation to determine which officer, or officers, struck the man is ongoing.
“After an initial review of the incident, it appears all officers at the scene of the officer-involved shooting followed policy and acted appropriately,” New Albany Police Chief Bailey said in the statement.
NAPD is investigating the gas station homicides, and ISP is handling the events at the restaurant, including the hostage situation and the investigation into the officers who shot at the suspect.
This story has been updated.
