Sergeant William Brand was shot and killed as he drove home from work following his shift at the Monroe County Correctional Center in Bloomington.

   He was driving southbound on State Road 37, south of Bloomington, when a former inmate drove alongside of his pickup truck and fired two shots.

   Sergeant Brand was struck in the back of his head, causing his vehicle to crash into a limestone embankment, killing him instantly.

   The 25-year-old male suspect continued driving but was arrested the following day in New Albany on an unrelated charge. In October 2007, he was charged with murder, subsequently convicted and sentenced to 65 years in prison.

   Sergeant Brand, from Bedford, was survived by his wife, 3-year-old child, two brothers, parents and maternal grandmother. In 2019, he was posthumously awarded the department's Purple Heart.