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Incident Details

Cause of Death:
Gunfire
Date/Time of Incident:
Sunday, January 23, 2011
09:05 am
Incident to Death Duration:
3 days
Incident Location:
3400 block of North Temple Avenue, Indianapolis
Incident County:
Marion
Incident Township:
Center
Weapon Used:
.380-caliber handgun
Suspect Disposition:
• Sentenced to life without parole
(currently incarcerated)
• Discharged in 2024

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Officer David Spencer Moore

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Officer
David Spencer Moore
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department
Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Panel 11W, Line 28 (2012)
Panel L14, Line 12 (2011)

   Officer David Moore died from gunshot wounds he suffered three days earlier after a traffic stop of a vehicle that was later determined to be stolen.

   He and the driver were outside their vehicles when he was shot four times by the subject who then fled the scene.

   Officer Moore, who was wearing a bullet-resistant vest with his weapon holstered, was shot in the chest, left thigh and twice in his face.

   He was taken to Wishard Memorial Hospital where he remained in a coma until being taken off life support after his organs were donated.

   A 60-year-old parolee, who had been released on bond a month earlier on a felony theft charge, was apprehended later that evening. He was held for a robbery committed 50 minutes after the shooting and later charged with murder.

   In a death penalty case, he was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus 40 years for armed robbery and unlawful firearm possession by a serious felon.

   A 51-year-old man who sold the offender the firearm used was sentenced in federal district court to 57 months in prison after serving a state drug possession sentence.

   After being released in 2021, he violated his three-year supervised release by using illicit drugs, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and discharged in 2024.

   Officer Moore was assigned to the North District and was posthumously awarded the department's Medal of Honor and Purple Heart.

   He was single and survived by his parents, Spencer and Jo Ann; and sister, Carol Bongfeldt. His mother retired as a sergeant and his father retired as a lieutenant with the department.

   The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute annually honors law enforcement officers through its Drug Recognition Expert Awards Program. In 2017, the DRE Officer of the Year Award was renamed the Officer David Moore DRE Officer of the Year Award in his honor.

Historical Notes

• Officer Moore was the first of two Indiana line of duty deaths in 2011.
• He is the first line of duty death of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
• His line of duty death is the 90th that has originated from Marion County.

Personal Details

Age: 29
Law Enforcement Service:
6 years, 6 months
Badge #: 755
Burial Place:
Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis