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Last updated on Saturday, September 21, 2013
(INDIANAPOLIS) - WTHI reports that police identified Steven Byrdo as the suspect responsible for the fatal shooting of Indianapolis Metro Police Officer Rod Bradway.
Officer Bradway was responding to a domestic violence call at the Eagle Pointe Apartments early Friday when he heard a woman screaming for help inside an apartment. He forced his way in and was met with deadly gunfire. Police say Steven Byrdo shot Officer Bradway. Byrdo also died in the exchange of gunfire.
Byrdo had a history of drug convictions, including a 2010 case when he pleaded guilty to dealing and possessing cocaine or other narcotics. He was sentenced to a total of six years with two suspended and 365 days probation. As part of a plea agreement, the prosecutor dismissed several charges, including carrying a hand gun without a license.
In 2011, Byrdo was convicted of possession of marijuana (class A misdemeanor). As part of a plea agreement, he was sentenced to 365 days in the Marion County Jail with 201 days suspended.
In the 2011 case, an officer smelled marijuana in the car in which Byrdo was sitting. The officer found six sealed baggies of marijuana in the center console. Byrdo admitted that his driver's license was suspended. He was also wearing a house arrest monitor at the time. He told the officer he was sitting in a parked car near his home because he didn't want to go near enough to the house to trigger the monitor, because then he'd have to stay in for the rest of the night.
The Indiana Department of Corrections says Byrdo was received in June 2011, and he was accepted into a Community Transition Program in September 2011. In November 2011, Byrdo was released to probation in Marion County.
Byrdo was arrested in January 2013 for a probation violation. In June 2013, he was released from the Plainfield Short Term Offender Program (STOP) Facility in Plainfield to parole supervision in Indianapolis. He received 70 days jail time credit and 30 days program credit for completing the Thinking for a Change program, a cognitive behavioral class. The DOC says while he was incarcerated, he had no conduct violations or disciplinary action.
The DOC also says since being released to parole in June, Bydro was seeing his parole agent regularly and "engaged in his rehabilitation." He was employed and attending classes at Martin University in Indianapolis.
It's unclear if Byrdo was on probation at the time of his death. He was accused of violating his probation in November 2012 and there was a civil judgment against him in January 2013 for unpaid probation and court fees.
Byrdo also faced marijuana possession and dealing charges from a November 2012 case, but the prosecutor dismissed all four of those charges.
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