LINCOLN — A Lancaster County grand jury has indicted a former Seward County Sheriff’s Office deputy for a shooting that left one man dead in October on Interstate 80, according to Seward County Sheriff Michael Vance.
Anthony Gann was lodged Thursday in the Lancaster County jail on suspicion of manslaughter, according to the jail website.
Vance said Gann resigned from his position with the Sheriff’s Office because of the indictment.
Gann turned himself in to authorities Thursday after the indictment was formalized.
The Nebraska State Patrol has not provided the Seward County Sheriff’s Office with its investigation of the incident that occurred in October, Vance said.
An internal investigation by the Sheriff’s Office did not find that Gann committed any violations or broke procedure during the shooting incident, Vance added.
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The incident happened Oct. 23 on I-80, beginning about 3:10 p.m., when the deputy tried to stop a driver, later identified as 43-year-old Jorge Santana-Ramirez, in Seward County.
Santana-Ramirez allegedly turned around and drove the wrong way, going east in the westbound lanes, then crossing into the eastbound lanes before eventually stopping, according to a press release the Sheriff’s Office issued the week of the shooting.
Gann had tried to stop the same vehicle the week prior in Seward County after seeing illegal substances in plain view, Vance said, but discontinued a pursuit in that instance.
When the deputy recognized the same car in Seward County the following week, he again attempted another traffic stop, pursuing the vehicle into Lancaster County, where the fatal shooting took place.
Deputies and Nebraska State Patrol troopers at the scene attempted lifesaving measures, but Santana-Ramirez died at the scene.
Lancaster County Attorney Pat Condon said in an email to the Journal Star that the grand jury documents will remain sealed until Monday.