A sheriff’s deputy and dad of two was killed, while another officer is fighting for his life after the pair were shot in a struggle with an arrestee inside a Louisiana courthouse Monday evening, authorities said.
Deputy Charles Riley, a 6-year veteran with the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office and a married father of two, was fatally shot during a tussle with a man accused of sexual assault who tried to nab his gun, according to Louisiana State Police.
Riley was interviewing the suspect — Latrell Clark, 27 — alongside Captain Brett Stassi Jr., son of the Sheriff, Brett Stassi, inside the Plaquemine courthouse building that houses offices for local government and the sheriff’s department, according to cops.
Clark was being booked in a sexual assault case when he tried to snatch one of the officers’ firearms, state police said.
A few rounds were fired, but it’s unclear if they came from the same gun and who fired the shots.
Clark was fatally shot during the altercation, authorities said.
The two officers were both critically injured and rushed to a nearby hospital, where Riley died. Stassi Jr. is in critical but stable condition, according to the sheriff’s office.
“We’re all just stunned and distraught; this just doesn’t happen here,” Iberville Parish deputy Ronnie Hebert told the Shreveport Times.
“I’ve been here 31 years, and it’s the first time I’ve ever been part of an investigation where one of our deputies was shot or killed.”
Hebert described Riley as “a helluva deputy and person” and “one of those guys everybody loved.”
He declined to comment on the investigation, but noted that jurisdiction was turned over to the Louisiana State Police with support from the FBI, the outlet reported.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry asked for “prayers” for the entire community.
“The violence must end,” he wrote on X.
The sheriff’s office is hosting multiple blood drives in honor of Stassi Jr., who was still in intensive care as of Tuesday morning.
“He continues to fight for his life, and we ask everyone to keep him and our entire family in your prayers,” his father, Sheriff Brett Stassi, wrote on Facebook.
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