'I'll tell you right here, I did it': Court docs reveal more about I-65 shooting arrests
INDIANAPOLIS — The road rage shooting that sent a car crashing into a pond last week, killing the driver, was preceded by tempers flaring over a driver changing lanes and passing.
The catalyst of the shooting-turned-crash was revealed in court records Monday, days after Indiana State Police announced the arrest of an Indianapolis man and a Greenwood woman in the investigation.
Andre Briski, 24, and Shawna Rowland, 23, were taken into custody Thursday, May 2, after State Police detectives pieced together camera footage and statements from eyewitnesses. They were charged a week later. Briski is facing a murder charge and Rowland is accused of assisting a criminal and obstruction of justice.
The shooting, which occurred about 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 1, on I-65 near County Line Road, killed 35-year-old Ryan Hawkins. An autopsy later confirmed he'd died from a gunshot wound to the neck.
According to a probable cause affidavit, eyewitnesses reported Hawkins was driving a 2024 Hyundai Elantra and was following the couple’s 2009 Ford Explorer before he changed lanes to pass them. Rowland, who was in the passenger seat, responded by telling Briski to “speed up” and follow the car, court records state. Shortly after, the gunfire occurred.
Another motorist on the road at the time told detectives they heard “firecrackers,” and saw the driver of the Ford in their rearview mirror extending their arm outside their vehicle and firing a silver revolver.
The black passenger car, carrying Hawkins, then sailed off the road, hit an embankment, became inverted mid-air and crashed into the pond below.
The driver of the Ford then cut off another vehicle, witnesses said, and exited on Southport Road at a high rate of speed.
Using the information from the other drivers, detectives used traffic cameras in the Southport Road area to find the Ford, which they learned was registered to Rowland. Camera footage also showed a man who matched the description of Briski walking away from the Ford on Southport Road.
Detectives learned Greenwood Police had conducted a traffic stop on Rowland and Briski in the same vehicle in February. Briski possessed a silver handgun during the stop, investigators said in court records, the same color and model described by the interstate shooting witnesses.
One day after the shooting, Rowland called the Johnson County Dispatch Center to turn herself in, police said. Detectives said she wanted to speak to an attorney before giving a statement.
Not long later, police learned Briski had checked into a medical facility on the east side of Indianapolis. Officers arrived at the building and detained him.
According to interviews with investigators, Briski told police he "didn’t mean to” shoot.
“I’ll tell you right here, I did it,” court records state. “I didn't mean to, I was afraid that we were going to crash and die.”
Briski said he used a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson in the shooting. Police said Briski stated the shooting began because Hawkins had been following him too closely and at one point brake-checked him, which sparked the road rage.
When investigators told Briski his tale of the events didn’t match up to “multiple” other eyewitnesses, he told police he wanted an attorney.
Briski and Rowland have both entered not guilty pleas. Trial is tentatively set for July 15 for both defendants.
Contact reporter Sarah Nelson at sarah.nelson@indystar.com
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 'I did it': Court docs reveal more about I-65 shooting arrests
