New Orleans policeman shot dead in high school basketball game

A Tulane police officer was shot and killed outside of a high school basketball game on Friday night, the New Orleans Police Department said.

At around 6:15 p.m., someone attempted to enter the gymnasium at George Washington Carver High School, where the game was being played, and was refused by one of the staff, New Orleans police said on Friday. to journalists.

“The officer heard the disturbance and attempted to intervene,” said NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson. “As a result of an intervention and an attempt to escort this individual out of the school, this individual drew his gun and fired a shot which hit the officer in the chest.”

The shooting happened outside the gym, Ferguson said.

At 6:38 p.m., the NOPD wrote on Twitter that they were on their way to the scene after learning that “a law enforcement officer from an outside agency had been shot.”

When they arrived at the high school, police discovered the officer had gunshot wounds to the chest, NOPD said in a statement.

The officer, who was also a reserve officer with the city court officer, was taken to the university medical center, where he was later pronounced dead, Ferguson told reporters.

A suspect was immediately apprehended and arrested, the police department said.

“We have one person in custody right now who we believe is responsible for this act,” Ferguson said. “Again, it’s a very fluid situation. Our homicide division … will be the lead in this investigation while our forces investigation team will assist in this process.”

Ferguson said the name of the deceased officer could not yet be released as the incident was still under investigation. The NOPD said in its statement that it would release his name after an autopsy and notification to the family.

Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman responded to the news on Twitter on Friday night.

“The Orléans Parish Sheriff’s Office mourns the loss of the Deputy Constable who was killed this evening in the line of duty. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the 2nd City Court Officer at this difficult time, ”he wrote.