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BRPD officer released from hospital after Saturday shootout

8 years 1 month 1 week ago Monday, February 15 2016 Feb 15, 2016 February 15, 2016 7:56 AM February 15, 2016 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE -The alleged shooter of two Baton Rouge police officers died Saturday night, according to the Baton Rouge Police Department. 

The shooting happened on the 5600 block of Fairfields Avenue around 6 a.m. Saturday morning. According to a Baton Rouge Police spokesperson, two officers and the suspected shooter were taken to the hospital. Baton Rouge Police identified the alleged shooter as Calvin Smith, 22.

Police say the unidentified officers were initially responding to a damage to property complaint on Melrose East. A source told WBRZ Channel 2 that the suspect showed up at his girlfriend's house where she lived with her mom and her mom's boyfriend. Sources say the suspect was on a tirade, tearing apart a vehicle in the driveway and got into a violent fight with the mom's boyfriend. The people who lived at the home called authorities after the suspect began smashing the vehicle's windshield and puncturing tires.

The two officers arrived moments later and the suspect left in a separate car and drove to family member's house on Fairfield Avenue. Police say Smith got out of the vehicle with a high-caliber, semi-automatic long rifle and opened fire on the officers. Both officers were hit but were able to return fire and strike Smith.

The East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore says he reviewed dashboard camera and body camera videos from the officer's vehicles and believes the police were "totally justified" in their actions.

Moore called the shooting an "ambush" on the officers. Moore said a bullet grazed one officer's head and the other officer was hit in the stomach but was protected by his bulletproof vest.

Up to 50 shots were fired between the two officers and the suspect.

According to the Associated Press, Smith is on probation for a 2014 conviction in Baton Rouge for indecent behavior with a juvenile.

Gina Chambers of Baton Rouge told News Two that Smith, the son of her godmother, was hospitalized in Shreveport last year after a suicide attempt. Chambers said she did not know that Smith had a gun.

"There is some evidence that would support [suicide by cop], but it is too early to tell. There is evidence that points in that direction as a possibility," Moore said about the suspect's reasoning for pulling out a gun on officers.

The names of the injured officers could be released Monday, BRPD Cpl. Don Coppola said.

Coppola told WBRZ's Michael Vinsanau that one of the officers involved in the shooting was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon.

This is a developing story. Stay tuned to WBRZ Channel 2 online and on Facebook and Twitter for updates as new information becomes available.

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