7 charged in shootings that killed Louisiana police officers
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Buy SPH photosNEW ORLEANS (REUTERS) - Louisiana police have charged seven people in connection with shootings near New Orleans on Thursday that killed two sheriff's deputies at a trailer park and wounded two others, authorities said.
Brian Lyn Smith, 24, of LaPlace was charged with attempted first-degree murder while six others also face charges linked to the violence, St John Parish Sheriff's Office spokesman Dane Clement said on Friday.
The charges stem from a pair of related shootings early on Thursday in and around LaPlace, about 40km west of New Orleans, in which a gunman shot and wounded St John Parish Deputy Michael Scott Boyington, 33, as he performed off-duty work directing traffic at a parking lot for Valero Energy Corp at St Charles refinery, St John Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre said.
The gunman fled, and officers investigating the incident ended up at a trailer park in LaPlace. As they were interviewing two suspects, someone came out of a trailer with an assault weapon and shot dead the two officers and wounded another, Mr Tregre said.
