Man fatally shoots alleged carjacker at gas station, cops say. He faces murder charge

A man has been charged with murder after authorities say he fatally shot another man who was trying to steal his vehicle at an Indiana gas station.

The shooting happened around 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15, in Indianapolis, police say.

According to court documents obtained by WTHR, when 46-year-old Anvictor Butler got out of his Chevy Malibu at a Marathon gas station, 30-year-old Dustin Phipps entered the vehicle and tried driving away.

That’s when Butler fired two shots into the driver’s side window, striking Phipps, WXIN reported. Phipps then crashed into a tree head first, according to WXIN.

“He flew down here through the fence and hit the tree. He was laying here for five, six minutes not breathing,” said Patrick Baker, who told WTHR he lives nearby.

Police said Phipps was taken to a hospital, where he died.

Butler fled the gas station after the shooting, according to WISH. He turned himself in later in the day after hiring a lawyer and surrendered a Glock .357 allegedly used in the shooting, the TV station reported.

Jody Maderia, a professor from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, told WISH a person is justified in a shooting “only when they reasonably believe unlawful force will be used against them.”

Butler remains in an Indianapolis jail as of Friday, Nov. 18, records show. He is due in court Friday.

Phipps’ brother, Michael Hadley, told WXIN he wishes the situation was handled differently.

“(Phipps) was in a pretty deep place, and it just hurts me to know there could have been other ways to reach out to him and assist him and lead him away from this incident,” Hadley said . “Nobody is getting into scuffles anymore. People are carrying guns around, and they’re shooting to kill.”

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