A suspect is injured in an officer-involved shooting in Tangipahoa Parish this morning. It happened on southbound I-55 south of U.S. 40 in Independence. It started when a deputy in neighboring Livingston Parish tried pulling the driver over in Albany. Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard says the driver drove off.
“The deputy pursued his vehicle. His vehicle left the interstate. He wound up crashing into another vehicle. He then ran on foot,” Ard noted.
Sheriff Ard says the deputy gave chase after the suspect ran off.
“The deputy had to taze the suspect. The suspect fought through the taser, disarmed the deputy of his taser; after doing that, he basically started tazing the deputy as they were having an altercation,” Ard explained.
Ard says that’s when the deputy, in his words, did what he had to do to survive the situation and shot the suspect.
“The deputy was okay. We know our suspect is in the hospital in critical condition,” Ard said.
Because the incident involved a deputy discharging a duty weapon, and with the chase crossing parish lines, Louisiana State Police are investigating the incident.