Sheriff Roy Holley was shot and killed while attempting to arrest a farmer who had shot and killed his 54-year-old neighboring farmer in unincorporated Ross.

   The neighbor was cutting down a tree and the suspect mistakenly thought the tree was on his property. Sheriff Holley and four deputies entered the man's home and told him he was under arrest. The suspect ran up the stairs with the officers following and as Sheriff Holley neared the top the man turned and fired a shotgun, striking him twice.

   The deputies grabbed the sheriff and retreated to a back porch. As they attempted to remove him to a vehicle the man came out and opened fire a second time, wounding three deputies. Sheriff Holley was transported to Mercy Hospital in Gary where he died from his wounds early the following morning.

   The 64-year-old suspect died by suicide after a four-hour standoff with authorities in which he shot and wounded four Gary police officers.

   Sheriff Holley, a Democrat from Crown Point, was a dentist and in the first year of his second, two-year term in office as the 31st sheriff of Lake County. He was survived by his wife, twin 16-year-old daughters and three brothers.

   His wife, Lillian Holley, was appointed sheriff to serve the remainder of her husband's term, becoming the first female sheriff of Lake County and the fourth female to serve as a sheriff in the state of Indiana.