New details have emerged to further shed light on the events surrounding the shooting death of a Denham Springs police officer last week.
Cpl. Shawn Kelly, a 26-year police veteran currently serving with the Denham Springs Police Department, remains hospitalized in critical condition after being shot while responding to a disturbance at Spring Park Plaza on Thursday.
Authorities have said Justin Roberts, 30, of Denham Springs, shot Kelly multiple times before fleeing the scene. A Livingston Parish sheriff’s deputy then shot Roberts, who died hours later from his injuries.
Since the incident involved both the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Denham Springs Police Department, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office was asked to lead the investigation, which they revealed in a report this week.
The report begins at 3:45 p.m. Thursday, roughly 45 minutes before the first shooting, and comes to the shooter’s attention around 4:30 p.m. In addition to providing new information about the two shootings, the report also details other incidents that point to Roberts, although he is not mentioned by name in those incidents.
According to the report, homicide detectives conducted interviews “with all officers and agents involved.” That information, detectives said, “was consistent” with video surveillance footage and evidence at both crime scenes.
In its conclusion, the EBRSO report supported the actions taken by local authorities.
“EBRSO’s review supports the actions taken by both DSPD officers and the LPSO deputy,” the report states.
The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office said “all investigative material” will be turned over to both agencies as well as the Livingston Parish District Attorney’s Office “for any review or disclosure of information”.
3.45pm Thursday 11 May
A Livingston Parish resident was driving in the parking lot at 2358 S. Range Avenue when a man driving a gold Jeep Cherokee followed her from the Petco parking lot to her Denham Springs residence, according to the report EBRSO.
During the incident, the driver cut her off “several times” and “brake controlled” her while driving.
The driver followed the woman as she pulled into her driveway, but “went out of the driveway and out of the area” when she pulled into the garage and closed the door.
Thursday, May 11 at 4:03 p.m
DSPD officers responded to a disturbance at 240 Range 12 Blvd. after receiving “a call of a man yelling and threatening a patron walking past” near Sports Clips Haircuts.
The suspect in this incident was described as “a black male” driving “a gold Jeep Cherokee,” descriptions consistent with the first incident.
The suspect was last seen heading towards Bass Pro Boulevard.
Thursday 11 May at 4.15 pm
DSPD officers responded to 2358 S. Range Avenue, the area of the 4:15 p.m. incident, after receiving a call “of a male and female arguing in the Petco parking lot.”
The suspect began yelling at the woman, who later said she did not know the suspect. The woman reportedly responded to the suspect by threatening to call the police.
The woman then got into her vehicle and the male suspect began following her through the parking lot as he got into his vehicle, “a gold Jeep Cherokee,” matching the vehicle in the other two incidents.
Thursday 11 May at 4:22 p.m
Cpl. Shawn Kelly and an apprentice arrived on scene in reference to the 911 call. After exiting their vehicle, the male subject, later identified as Roberts, “fired at them through the driver’s side window while he was still sitting in his vehicle,” the report says.
Kelly was hit several times.
Then Roberts walked across the parking lot toward the Raising Cane restaurant. But within seconds, he turned his vehicle around and drove back toward the DSPD officers, “where he fired at them one more time,” according to the report.
The DSPD student returned fire before Roberts fled the scene. Roberts was not injured, but his vehicle was hit.
Thursday 11 May at 4:29 p.m
A uniformed Livingston Parish sheriff’s deputy was traveling north in the 400 block of Eugene Street (Denham Springs) “when he observed the suspect vehicle stopped in the roadway,” according to the report.
Roberts was outside the vehicle “armed with a rifle” pointing at the deputy, the report said.
“The LPSO deputy quickly stopped and exited his vehicle and fired multiple shots at Roberts, striking him in the head and incapacitating him,” detectives said in the EBRSO report.
Investigators say Roberts was taken to an area hospital where he later died from his injuries.
