Armed grandfather shot by cops during vigilante attempt on suspect in killing of his great-grandchildren

Mark Vawter, 65, traveled to the Hendricks County Courthouse just before 1 pm on Tuesday, and had intentions to kill S’Doni Pettis, 25, who has been charged with killing his young great-grandchildren that were victims of a car crash resulting from a police chase, according to the New York Post.

Pettis was trying to evade police when he crashed the stolen Honda Civic he was driving into a Ford Explorer. Vawter's great-grandchildren, 3-year-old Ares and 2-month-old Iris, were in the Ford and on impact, the vehicle exploded in a fireball, burning the young children as their father was traveling with them after Iris' 2-month doctor's check-up.

Iris died at the scene of the crash, but Ares was able to be taken out of the burning vehicle by Good Samaritans and an officer. The 3-year-old was burned on 60 percent of his body. His family took him off life support just days after the incident.

According to the outlet, Pettis had been scheduled to make a court appearance for the vehicular manslaughter case. Vawter was apparently not aware that the hearing had been moved when he was spotted by the courthouse as police were moving the inmates.

Vawter fired one shot but did not hit any of the inmates, but police returned fire, striking Vawter. He was later pronounced dead at the scene. Just a few days after the crash, Vawter spoke to reporters and said, “It should have been Ares who buried me, not me burying him. He was so young."

According to I-Team 8, neighbors thought that Vawter had been planning the shooting for weeks. The Indiana State Police Department is conducting an investigation into the shooting incident outside the courthouse, and the officers involved have been placed on administrative leave.