Indianapolis Names Street For Officer Slain In '04

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis has renamed a street for a police officer fatally shot by a mentally ill man 10 years ago.

Officer Jake Laird Memorial Way runs in front of the district police headquarters that Laird worked out of on Aug. 17, 2004, when he confronted 33-year-old Kenneth Anderson, who was armed with an assault rifle and two handguns.

The ensuing gunbattle left Laird and Anderson dead and four other officers wounded. Police said Anderson also had fatally shot his 66-year-old mother. Anderson had been diagnosed as a schizophrenic and had stopped taking medication before the shootings.

The Indianapolis Star reports the new street dedicated Monday includes a thin blue line representing the brotherhood of law enforcement officers. It was painted on the street in front of the district headquarters.