2 fatal police shootings of suspects in Louisiana in days

HAUGHTON, La. – Authorities say police in Louisiana have fatally shot two suspects in separate domestic disturbance calls in recent days.

The first shooting occurred Friday night in north Louisiana and the second late Sunday in south Louisiana.

The Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office told Shreveport media that the mother of 33-year-old Benjamin Lee Sellers had called authorities, saying Lee attacked her Friday. A sheriff’s release Monday says the responding officer, Lt. Josh Cathcart, fired his weapon after Sellers walked toward him with a knife as though he were going to stab him.

Cathcart was placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.

In south Louisiana’s Tangipahoa Parish, state police say, 36-year-old Philip Steven McMichael was killed Sunday after deputies responded to a call of a suspect threatening family members. The deputies involved weren’t publicly identified.