Suspect Killed in Interstate 10 ‘Gun Fight’ with Police was Armed with Handgun, Sheriff Says
Posted by jhingarat21 on 9th Oct 2015
A motorist was shot to death by authorities on Interstate 10 in Slidell Saturday (Sept. 19, 2015) after he allegedly led them on a chase and fired on them.
A man killed along Interstate 10 in Slidell in an early Saturday morning “gun fight” with police was armed with a handgun and had led officers on a chase that at one point extended into New Orleans, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office said.
The 46-year-old man, who has not been named, died in what the Sheriff’s Office said was an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement officers after a car chase. No officers were injured.
I-10 eastbound remained closed at Gause Boulevard as of 9:00 a.m., as officials worked the scene where the chase ended and the man died.
The St. Tammany Coroner’s Office removed the man’s body, which appeared to have been taken from outside a white pickup truck.
St. Tammany Sheriff Jack Strain discusses I-10 gun fight St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain discusses a car chase and gun fight on Interstate 10 that ended with a man being shot and killed by officers Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015.
New Orleans Police said it assisted in the car chase and that the suspect “fired shots at the officers several times.” An NOPD preliminary report had said earlier the suspect was armed with an AK-47 and was wanted for a robbery, but St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain said that was not correct, and that the NOPD information confused two separate incidents.
The incident began when an officer approached the white pickup, which was traveling at a very low speed on Pontchartrain Boulevard, Strain said. A male passenger jumped out and ran away, while the driver sped off. The chase traveled into New Orleans and back to St. Tammany, where officers placed a spike strip on I-10 to disable and stop the vehicle, he said.
In the exchange of gunfire, officers shot and killed the man near the exit at Gause Boulevard, he said. The passenger in the truck, who ran away, remained at large this morning.
Officers from the Louisiana State Police and Slidell Police were also involved in the incident, the Sheriff’s Office said.
I-10 eastbound traffic was being diverted onto Gause Boulevard.
I-10 E remains closed at US-190 (Gause Boulevard) due to police operations. Traffic is being diverted at Gause Blvd. Congestion is minimal.