Posted on 08/10/2007 2:47:34 PM PDT by kms61
BASTROP (TV8) - Morehouse Parish Sheriff Danny McGrew confirms two Bastrop police officers were shot and killed Friday afternoon in downtown Bastrop.
McGrew says one suspect was also shot and killed. Two emergency medical technicians were shot and wounded. One was reported to be in surgery at Morehouse General Hospital.
At least one other suspect was said to be in a standoff with police at the Best Budget Inn on South Franklin Street near the courthouse square.
McGrew said the suspects were possibly persons of interest in a double homicide in Texas, but that was not confirmed.
TV8 News reporter Jennifer Townley reports from the scene that part of downtown Bastrop has been sealed off, and both Bastrop City Hall and the Morehouse Parish courthouse have been placed under lockdown, and that two persons have been arrested.
SWAT teams equipped with helmets, shields and guns are taking up positions outside the Best Budget Inn. FBI agents are on the scene.
A caller who identified herself as Sharon Anders, manager of Altel's Bastrop store, said the FBI has ordered all Bastrop phone service disconnected until the situation is normalized.
Other details are sketchy.
A Bastrop police dispatcher who answered a phone call from TV8 News said she did not have time to talk and immediately hung up the phone.
Sterlington Police Chief Barry Bonner says he was notified that emergency personnel would be traveling through Sterlington en route to Bastrop in response to "an officer involved shooting."
A clerk in a store on the Bastrop courthouse square called KNOE TV8 News to describe the scene following the shooting. She says police armed with rifles are running around the area of a motel near the square. She also saw ambulances coming and going from the area.
Check in with KNOE.com and watch TV8 News for details on this developing story.
I knew one of the officers that was killed since he was 18 years old. He came to work at a store that I managed when he was going to college studying police science. He dreamed of being not just a policeman, but a good policeman.
He got a job on his hometown police force (when he could have made so much more money in a big city job). He married, had children and became a detective. I’m so sad that hate and violence has ended this man’s life.
Although most "Hispanics" have more or less Spanish, and thus white, ancestry, and some have German too (Germans in Mexico), and the name Smith is not exactly Rodriguez, it's very odd to have a murder warrant out for someone and not know something that basic about them. However Viking tattoo on a Latina would be very strange indeed.
Something a little off here, just like shutting off the phone is a little odd. Well, we'll see soon enough.. I guess.
The identities of the officers killed today have been released. Killed in the line of duty are 40-year-old Detective Sergeant John Smith, an 18-year veteran of the Bastrop Police force, and 34-year-old Detective Sergeant Charles Wilson Jr. who's been with the department for 11 years.
Still no ID on the dead assailant. Still a BOLO for "Tanya 'Littlefeather' Smith, a 26-year-old female wanted for questioning.".
From KTBS in Shreveport:
The 26-year-old woman police are looking for got away in a stolen pickup. All the suspects are believed to be connected to a murder in the Houston area.
?? "All" sort of implies more than just two, but maybe not.
The Bastrop Enterprise online has several articles about the incident this morning.
http://bastrop.townnews.com/news/
Thenewsstar online has updated stories with a few picture galleries, but I think that is a site we can’t link to.
I’m so happy the woman was apprehended. I hope she will be able to shed some light on these senseless murders and maybe help the families understand what happened.
My daughter told me that they had someone at the police department giving grief counseling to everyone there and the officers that were first responders to the incident will be able to take off until they feel mentally able to come back.
This is such a small police department that the people you work with are like family. There were only 4 detectives on the force, so they have lost half of that division. You know, people always say nice things about people after they die, but seriously, Chuck Wilson and John Smith were the two most respected and well-liked officers on the whole police force. The whole community is in shock and trying to come to terms with everything that happened.
Here are two you-tube presentation of the stand off made by two citizens of Bastrop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLDe41Rogvs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nB56WUQM94
Finally, we find out some things about the shooter.
Killed murder suspect had possible ties to supremacist prison gang
http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070813/NEWS01/708130319
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