A Marion County Sheriff’s deputy killed in the line of duty July 10 was a graduate of Lawrence North High School.
According to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Deputy John Durm, 61, was transporting a prisoner from Eskenazi Hospital to the Community Justice Campus, where the adult detention center is located, when the prisoner attacked Durm.
During a news conference July 10, Indianapolis Deputy Police Chief Chris Bailey said that following the attack, the prisoner took control of a transport vehicle and drove it through the gates of the complex, then crashed the vehicle into a utility pole. He said the prisoner was apprehended and taken to Eskanazi for treatment of wounds received during the incident.
Durm also was taken to Eskanazi, where he was pronounced dead.
Marion County Sheriff Kerry Forestal said during the news conference that Durm had served with the sheriff’s office for 38 years, and Durm’s wife also worked there. The couple’s son had just started as a detention deputy and was going through training. Their other two children are deployed in the military.
The prisoner was identified as 34-year-old Orlando Mitchell. According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Mitchell will officially face murder charges stemming from the incident after he’s released from the hospital. According to court records, Mitchell is in custody awaiting trial for murder charges related to a 2022 homicide.
According to the Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township, John Durm graduated from Lawrence North High School with the Class of 1980. The Lawrence Common Council had a moment of silence for Durm during its regular meeting July 10.
