LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — A 28-year-old man is accused of killing a Louisiana police officer and trying to kill…
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — A 28-year-old man is accused of killing a Louisiana police officer and trying to kill three other people, including a second officer, authorities said Monday.
Ian Paul Howard of Lafayette was arrested on several charges including first-degree murder of a police officer, Louisiana State Police said in a news release. First-degree murder charges have only two possible sentences: life in prison or death.
Neither Master Trooper Brooks David, a state police spokesman, nor Lafayette police spokesman Cpl. Karl Ratcliff immediately responded to a query about whether Howard has a previous police record.
Ratcliff identified the slain officer as Cpl. Michael Paul Middlebrook, a nine-year patrol veteran. He’s survived by his wife, their 3-year-old daughter, two stepdaughters and his parents.
State police said he was killed late Sunday while answering a call about a shooting at a Big Boy convenience store in Lafayette, a city-parish of about 125,000, about 120 miles (190 kilometers) west of New Orleans.
The Big Boy sits in front of a federally subsidized apartment complex in a neighborhood of stores and apartments.
David said Howard started a shootout and ran, but was quickly arrested by Lafayette police. He said Howard is accused of trying to kill a second officer, who was not wounded, and of shooting two people in the store.
A witness, Avery Cross, 29, of Lafayette, told The Advocate that the shootout took place inside the store. He said that apparently nobody realized the gunman who had shot a cashier was still inside when the officer entered the store and was killed.
Cross said he’d gone to the 24-hour store late Sunday, only to find it locked.
An employee came to the door and told him a cashier had been shot, pointing out bullet holes in the window, Cross said.
He said two officers showed up and one went inside, apparently unaware that the gunman was inside. « So when he walked in, the guy popped out and started shooting, » Cross said.
He said he heard at least five shots, then the gunman then came out and fired into the air, yelling for people to back up.
« I heard the shooting and I just started running, » Cross said. « When it was happening, the only thought was just to make it home. »
