City buying tougher windshields after cop killed in cruiser

September 04, 2022 at 2:30 pm CDT

The funeral procession for 24-year-old Elwood Police Officer Noah Shahnavaz passes by the police station on Aug. 6 in Elwood, Indiana. Shahnavaz was fatally shot while making a traffic stop on July 31. (AP photo/Jenna Watson)

ELWOOD, Ind. (AP) — A central Indiana city where a police officer was killed by gunshots fired into his cruiser is investing in bullet-resistant windshields for its 19 police vehicles.

The Elwood Board of Public Works and Public Safety voted unanimously Aug. 15 to spend $35,000 to purchase the new windshields.

The initiative led by Elwood Police Chief Jason Brizendine follows the death of Officer Noah Shahnavaz on July 31.

Shahnavaz, 24, was shot through the windshield of his police cruiser before he could exit the vehicle during an early-morning traffic stop.

Carl Roy Webb Boards II, 42, of Anderson, has been charged with murder, resisting law enforcement and unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon in the shooting.

Elwood Clerk-Treasurer Alison Roby said the anti-ballistic windshield is supposed to stop a bullet from a rifle.

“They can actually shoot out if there is shooting,” she said. “It at least gives them enough time to react.”