Detective James M. Compton Jr.
Survivors
His wife, two daughters and a son
Incident
Detective Compton was attempting to serve a narcotics warrant on a man who was suspected of selling marijuana to students at a nearby high school when he was shot and killed.
The Detective and three other detectives had arrived at the man\'s home to serve the warrant at 2200 hours. The suspect fired a shotgun hitting Dectective Compton in the head after the detective knocked on the door and identified himself. Detective Compton was transported to a local hospital after he crawled and collapsed in the front yard. The detective was pronounced dead two hours later.
The suspect was fatally shot when the other detectives present returned fire.
Detective Compton had only been with the Indianapolis Police Department 6 weeks before the event. He had previously worked in Kansas as a Police officer for two years. He was a Purple Heart recepient and a veteran of the US Navy and Vietnam.
Agency
Gallery
Tributes
There are 2 tributes for Detective James M. Compton Jr.
I was one of two Paramedics and an EMT that treated and transported James Compton to the Marion County General Hospital(Wishard Hospital) ER. The tribute is incorrect in that he was not shot with a shotgun. He was shot through the front door by a hand gun. Even though he had only been with IPD a short time, I had had several professional interactions with Jim on other EMS runs. He was a very polished police officer, very friendly and engaging. It has been more than 30 years since that night, but the details of our run for Jimmy will always be with me. He was a very special man and a fine IPD officer.