SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Shreveport officials held a press briefing Tuesday detailing the events of the hostage situation and standoff that occurred earlier this week in the Southern Hills neighborhood.
The following is a recounting of how the events of the Monday standoff unfolded according to Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith:
Just before 7 a.m., the Shreveport Police Department received a call saying that a man was coming to a residence to kill those inside the house.
The suspect arrived at the home located on Crooked Creek Drive a short time after, heavily armed with ‘unusual’ amounts of ammunition.
The suspect began to open fire on the house from the outside and 911 calls began to flood in about the incident.
After the initial shots, a nearby neighbor encountered the suspect and was shot. They are expected to recover from their injuries.
A second neighbor then engaged with the suspect and the two began to exchange gunfire. Shreveport police arrived on the scene during the exchange and were fired upon themselves.
Police engaged the suspect from a distance and began to open fire themselves.
All of the residents inside the home evacuated at some point during the exchange except one juvenile female, who was hiding in the house.
As the suspect began to barricade himself in the house, he shot at and struck the young girl.
Negotiators arrived on the scene shortly after and began to attempt to convince the suspect to surrender, to which he refused.
Shreveport police say they then used technology to determine where the young girl was located in the house and began focusing on bringing her to safety.
As officers attempted to breach into the room where they believed the girl was located, they were met with a barrage of gunfire.
The officers eventually were able to successfully get into the house and extract the girl. She is expected to recover from her injuries.
Police continued efforts to get into the house by using two drones, both of which were shot at and disabled by the suspect.
The Bossier City Police Department arrived on the scene and engaged the suspect in an armored BearCat vehicle. The suspect opened fire on the armored vehicle, striking the windows and tires.
Chief Smith said at this point it was quite obvious that the suspect had no intention of surrendering himself.
Shortly after, police began to notice smoke begin to rise from the house and began to work to try to extinguish the flames safely.
Police lined up the armored vehicles end to end to form a shield so the fire department could safely work to put out the fire.
Despite the fire department’s efforts, the house quickly became engulfed in flames.
Eventually, the fire was extinguished and police were finally able to enter the burnt-up house, where the lone suspect’s remains were found. The coroner recovered the suspect’s body and an autopsy is pending.
The standoff started around 7 a.m. and did not conclude until the afternoon. Police cleared the area and residents were allowed to exit and re-enter the neighborhood just after 7 p.m.
The suspect has not yet been identified and the investigation is still ongoing. Chief Wayne Smith thanked all of the local law enforcement agencies for their assistance and support throughout the hours-long stand-off.