PIERCETON – One man is in custody and a second is dead after an early morning pursuit in Pierceton. Sterling R. Templeton, 34, Garrett, was taken into custody after a vehicular chase that ended in a crash early this morning in Pierceton, but no formal charges are pending at this time. The driver of the vehicle, found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was identified as Dalen Anthony Ousley, 29, Fort Wayne. At approximately 4:34 a.m., Pierceton Deputy Marshal Matt Owens attempted to perform a traffic stop on a vehicle along Ind. 13. The vehicle began to flee, turning westbound onto Market Street from Ind. 13, according to a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department press release. The pursuit continued onto Tower Street, where the suspect vehicle crashed into a fence. As two individuals exited the vehicle and fled on foot, Owens heard a gunshot, according to the release. Owens was able to take the first suspect, identified as Templeton, into custody. Several officers from Winona Lake, Warsaw, KCSD and the Indiana State Police converged onto the west side of Pierceton in an attempt to locate the second suspect. Officers heard a second gunshot during the manhunt, and sheriff’s deputies located an individual believed to be the second suspect, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, in a vacant parking at the end of Tower Street. The Kosciusko County Coroner was summoned to the scene along with members of the Kosciusko County Special Crimes Investigation team to further investigate. At about 10 a.m. today, the Kosciusko County Coroner Office identified Ousley as the man who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department Public Information Officer Chad Hill. Hill said an autopsy is planned today at the Northeast Forensic Center in Fort Wayne. By all indications and evidence at the scene, Hill said it appears Ousley died from the gunshot wound. The Pierceton Police Department advises there are no formal charges against Templeton because he was just a passenger in Ousley's vehicle. Both Templeton and Ousley were previous residents of Kosciusko County, Hill said, and both have had multiple cases through the Kosciusko Court System. “They were not strangers to our county,” Hill said. “They’ve always been in our area.” Whitko Community School Corp. was put on a two-hour delay while the suspects were located. The matter is still under investigation by law enforcement, including why the two men were in the Pierceton area early this morning.
