An officer who joined a motorcycle unit after being shot dies while escorting a funeral procession

Alex Horton, The Washington Post

Posted

10:10 am Pacific Standard Time, Sunday, February 3, 2019

Almost exactly one year ago, the cap. Shane Totty was in bad shape.

In February 2018, Totty rushed to an appeal regarding a man suffering from serious mental health problems, reported the lawyer. The suspect shot at the windshield of the police car, hitting Totty in the face

. He lost some of his vision for some time after the shooting, but he decided to join the force after his recovery.

Totty asked a specific service to retrieve it. his return, according to the police chief of Baton Rouge, Murphy Paul – motorcycle unit

. This transfer triggered a series of events that resulted in a tragedy Friday when Totty, 31, was struck by a pickup truck during a funeral procession. He died as a result of his injuries shortly after the collision, the department said.

Totty was preparing his wedding with his fiancée, announced the lawyer. The couple had a little girl shortly after the shooting. In a picture, Totty and his fiancée, Catty, stand in front of a chimney holding the baby, who has an orange flower on his head.

"He is a fighter," said Paul at a press conference Friday after Totty's death. "He was a very bright young man, he had a bright future with the police department."

The shooting of last year was the circumstance that brought men together for the first time, explained Paul. The chief visited him at the hospital after the shooting. Totty hit him with flashes of resilience.

"He was anxious to get back to work," said Paul.

The collision occurred after the truck left a building and remains under investigation. Charges are pending, said sheriff Sid Gautreaux at the press conference, but he did not reveal the suspect's name.

Photos of the scene show a dark truck demolished at the front left with debris scattered around a police motorcycle returned.

The office is watching a video of the incident, Gautreaux said.

The Friday incident was remarkably similar to another collision that claimed the life of an officer from Louisiana who was also driving a motorcycle during a funeral procession. Jason Seals, an officer with the Slidell Police Department, died in November from injuries he sustained during the September incident outside New Orleans.

The Capt. Don Kelly, who oversaw the Totty team before retiring last year, told the attorney that Totty's death was particularly significant after he was beaten to recover. , which would have led to the mutation that would determine his destiny.

"He loved motorcycles, was his dream," Totty's Kelly said. "He was doing what he liked … it's a sad irony after all that he's been through and all he's lived in. It's cruel. C & # 039; It's amazing, it's heartbreaking. "

The incident resulted in tragic symmetry, the authorities explained. 19659014] Last year, after being shot and wounded, Totty was taken to the Notre-Dame-du-Lac Regional Medical Center for treatment. "It's the same hospital where he was taken on Friday," said Gautreaux.

"The surgeon who was on duty that night was the same surgeon as the one who had treated him tonight" , Gautreaux noted.