A Louisiana State Police spokesman, Stephen Hammons, said a man began firing at the three officers when they arrived at the fire Saturday in Charenton, about 60 miles west of New Orleans, The Times-Picayune of New Orleans reported. The shots killed an officer from the Chitimacha Indian Reservation i
barricaded himself inside the business that local media identified as Lavergne's Insurance Agency in Ville Platte, a city of about 8,000 people some 70 miles west of Baton Rouge. Louisiana State Police spokesman Stephen Hammons would not say who was barricaded inside or confirm the name of the business.
avergne Insurance Agency, was found inside his business just before 7 p.m. Tuesday when SWAT team members entered the building near the intersection of Court and West Main streets. Trooper Stephen Hammons, spokesman for Louisiana State Police Troop I, said it was unclear how long Lavergne had been dead.
Those responders used the pavilion next to the Rayne Civic Center as a staging area to take calls and direct crews, according to Troy Guidry, director of operations for Acadian Ambulance. Injured people were brought there and dispersed among local hospitals. About a dozen people were transported to area hospitals with minor to moderate injuries, said Stephen Hammons, public information officer, State Police Troop I.