WBRZ - Baton Rouge

Bay St. Louis police say the man who killed himself on Interstate 10 after an attempted holdup in
Louisiana was a Louisiana National Guard soldier assigned to help with the oil spill.

Deputy Chief Mike DeNardo identifies him Wednesday as 24-year-old John Paul Loupe of LaPlace, a member of the 773rd Military Police Battalion.

He says Loupe shot himself in the head with a 9mm semi-automatic rifle on Tuesday, and his car caromed off a guardrail and onto a bridge.

Capt. Kevin Foltz, spokesman for Slidell, La., police, said Loupe tried to hold up a fast-food restaurant there shortly before killing himself.

He said Loupe threatened the manager with a steak knife and ordered her to open the safe, but she grabbed his face and shoved him against a wall.