UPDATE: The suspect killed by St. Tammany Sheriff deputies Tuesday has been identified as 30-year-old Darien Greenwood of Covington
MANDEVILLE, LA (WGNO) — Two Saint Tammany deputies opened fire on a burglary suspect Tuesday afternoon. The man was taken to the hospital where he died. A STPSO dog was also seriously injured and required surgery and a blood transfusion at a veterinary hospital.
Sheriff Jack Strain says it all began when a woman returned to her home in a subdivision near Interstate 12 and Highway 1088 only to find two men walking out of her house with some of her valuables. Strains says the woman called 911 and was able to give deputies a description of the burglars’ car, including the license plate number.
Strain says his deputies quickly located the car but a chase followed. Moments later, the suspects bailed out of the car and went different directions. One of them was quickly arrested. But Strain says his deputies spend most of the afternoon looking for the second one who was eventually located hiding by a pile of trash and debris. At that point, according to the sheriff, the suspect lunged at one of the deputies with a switch-blade knife, but K-9 Thor intercepted the advance.
“The deputy believes, had it not been for the K9 Thor, this individual would have killed him. He was that close and attempting to stab him. His exact words to me were that this K9 Thor pulled him away, and that’s when he started stabbing K9 Thor. And that’s when the deputies fired on him,” Strain told WGNO News near the scene Tuesday evening as his deputies continued to process evidence they were collecting in the area.
Deputies say Thor needed emergency surgery and a blood transfusion, but they expected him to pull through.
As for the second robbery suspect, he remained in jail as of Tuesday night.
Strain says two of his deputies opened fire on the burglary suspect who was killed. Both deputies will remain on desk duty until the department sorts out the details of exactly what happened, which is standard procedure.