MADISON, Ind. — A Madison man convicted of shooting an Indiana State Trooper during a standoff in 2019 will spend 42 years in prison.
A jury found 61-year-old Wade Roark guilty of attempted murder and all other charges related to the shooting of Master Trooper Joseph Livers, according to Jefferson County Prosecutor David Sutter.
On Nov. 23, 2019, Indiana State Police got a report about five people locked in an upstairs bedroom of a home on State Road 56.
According to court papers, Roark had a handgun and was firing from the basement into the upper level of the home.
Police arrived and Roark refused their commands to surrender. He told police he was going to kill a man as well as some unidentified Hispanic men.
Roark claimed the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Mexican drug cartel were after him and said he’d been awake for three days. Toxicology reports later showed that Roark had meth in his system at the time.
Police helped get the five people out of the house, but Roark was still inside.
Roark fired multiple shots, one of which hit Livers in the leg. Indiana State Police fired back and Roark surrendered.
“Justice was served today for Trooper Joseph Livers and his family,” Prosecutor Sutter said on Facebook. “As always, we commend our law enforcement professionals, like Trooper Livers, who put their lives at risk for the safety and security of others on a daily basis.”
