Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Officer Bruce Jacobs Arrested for Murder

A Marion County special deputy and code enforcement officer was arrested Friday in connection with the shooting death of his neighbor in August.

Bruce Jacobs, 53, called 911 on Aug. 19 to report that he had just shot Edward Light, 48, near 20th Street and Forest Manor Avenue.

Light was pronounced dead in Jacobs' back yard.

"We received a call from his (Jacobs) home address, stating that he'd been attacked by his neighbor," said Indianapolis police Sgt. Paul Thompson. "At some point ... he felt it necessary to use deadly force, that being a firearm. He fired several shots at his neighbor, which resulted in his death."

At first it was believed that Light had attacked Jacobs with a chainsaw, but police said further investigation revealed that the chainsaw was not directly involved in the fatal shooting.

Investigators said in 2009 that Light might have damaged Jacobs' property with a chainsaw earlier in the day and that Jacobs told them he acted in self defense.

Jacobs, who was off duty at the time of the shooting, was questioned by police in August, but was never charged.

Neighbors told 6News' Sarah Cornell that Light had lived in his Forest Manor house for years and that after his father died, leaving him alone in the home, Jacobs began bullying him.

“Ed Light told me at lunch about a month before his killing that he feared for his life and that soon, he or the neighbor would be dead," said neighbor Craig Livers. "A month later, he was."

Police arrested Jacobs at his home on Friday on a preliminary charge of murder. If convicted, he could face up to 65 years in prison.

Jacobs had been suspended without pay since the shooting.

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