Alanna Gallagher Murder Suspect Shot in Head by Police
Taylor Holder, 17, was shot in the head by police during a shootout as he was being served with a warrant in the death of Alanna Gallagher. A police officer was also shot and both men are listed in critical condition at a local hospital.
Alanna, 6, was found naked and bound under a tarp on July 1; police said that DNA evidence linked Holder to the case. Holder previously volunteered a DNA sample for police, and it matched the DNA found on the belt used to wrap the little girl in the tarp. Evidence showed that she was also brutally raped before being dying.
Police were executing a search warrant at Holder's home when the shootout took place. The police officer, whose name has not been released yet, was shot in the groin, while Holder took a bullet to the head.
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"We ask that everyone has prayers for the officer at this time," Officer Damon Ing told the press. "We did initiate a search warrant here on Babbling Brook, in the furtherance of the investigation of the Alanna Gallagher murder. I am regretful to report that at this time we do have an officer down."
The community does not seem shocked that Holder was associated with the crime and painted the portrait of an unstable young man who had a very dark side.
"He was the kid that you were always really nice to because you didn't know if he was going to come shoot up the school," classmate Mikayla Dawson told the Daily Mail.
Lauren Allen, 15, told the Mail of an unusual encounter between her older brother and Holder just a few years ago. Allen's brother threw a snowball at Holder, who then "just turned around a pulled out his pocket knife. He was weird and creepy, and he's been violent in the past."
"Mrs. Holder is in shock and is extremely worried about the condition of her son, as any mother would be. I ask that the Holder family's request for privacy be honored as they come to grips with today's events," her lawyer, Lance Evans told the press.
