Police: 3 dead, officer wounded in Louisiana shooting

CROWLEY, La. – Authorities are retracing the movements of a man suspected of killing two women before he was fatally shot by police. The man died in an exchange of gunfire after wounding an officer and gunning down a police dog, a Louisiana police chief said Thursday.

Investigators believe the suspect killed a woman at a home before police responded there to a report of shots fired around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

A car at the scene had apparently been driven by the suspect from another woman’s residence, where they found her body around 6:30 a.m. Thursday, along with two children, unharmed but unattended, who were turned over to relatives, Crowley Police Chief Jimmy Broussard said.

“We can’t say with certainty, but we do believe (both women) were killed by the same suspect,” the chief said.

Police shot and killed the man at the second home after he shot the dog and the officer, Broussard said. The officer was released from a hospital Thursday after being treated for a gunshot wound to his left thigh, he said.

The chief wouldn’t release the officer’s name, but said he was the handler of the police dog, a Belgian Malinois named Roscoe that the department acquired about five months ago.

The State Police is investigating the shooting in which the officer was wounded.

Broussard said the suspect apparently knew both women, but the nature of their relationships remains under investigation.