Two police officers killed in Alexandria shootout - Big Big Forums

Jolie Rouge · 02-21-2003, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Man with assault rifle injures four, then shot & killed

Staff Report http://www.wbrz.com/stories/022003/new_shootout.shtml

Two police officers and a criminal suspect died Thursday in a two-hour shootout that erupted Thursday afternoon in Alexandria.

Police Chief Tommy Cicardo confirmed the two dead officers as Charles David Ezernack and Jeremy Carruth. Four other police officers were injured.

The shooting began around 1 p.m. at a house near U.S. Highway 165 in this central Louisiana city. Police were seeking a suspect in the Wednesday morning attempted ambush of an Alexandria police officer who had answered a phony robbery call. State police and sheriff's deputies were called in to help after the Thursday afternoon shootout began. Students at a nearby school were locked inside their building.
As a crowd gathered there was some jeering of police, resulting in an unknown number of arrests.

By 3:30 p.m., the shooting had ended and the area was cordoned off by yellow crime-scene tape. One of the wounded was transported to Baton Rouge for medical help to remove glass in his face after he was grazed by a bullet. Another was taken to Rapides Regional Hospital. Charla Ducote, a hospital spokeswoman, confirmed he was in good condition with what was described as a flesh wound.

The other officers were at Christus St. Francis Cabrini Hospital, spokesman Jimmy Touche said. Officials there would not release details on their conditions.

Officers had been looking for a gunman who opened fire with an assault rifle on a police officer Wednesday morning.

That officer was ambushed while responding to an apparently false report of a robbery. When the officer got back in his patrol car after finding no robbery victim, the gunman sprayed the car with bullets. About 20 shots were fired, but the officer was not hit, police said.

The officer, whose name was not released, injured his leg as he scrambled to the passenger side of the car to avoid the gunfire. He was eventually able to drive away from the shooting, Cicardo said.