The Latest: Man accused of killing trooper is now in jail
Published 6:00 pm Monday, August 24, 2015
- This undated image released by the Louisiana State Police via the New Orleans Times Picayune shows Louisiana Senior Trooper Steven Vincent. Vincent was critically injured Sunday afternoon, Aug. 23, 2015, after authorities say he was shot in the head during a traffic stop in Calcasieu Parish, La. Col. Mike Edmonson, head of the Louisiana State Police, says 43-year-old Senior Trooper Steven Vincent died Monday at a hospital in Lake Charles, La. (Louisiana State Police/The Times Picayune via AP)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The latest on the shooting of a Louisiana State Police trooper, who died Monday of his wounds (all times local):
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1:45 p.m.
The man accused of killing a Louisiana state trooper has been moved from a hospital to the Calcasieu (KAL-kuh-shoo) Parish jail.
Lt. J.B. Slaton (SLAY-tuhn), a state police spokesman, says 54-year-old Kevin Daigle (DAY-guhl) was moved to the jail late Sunday or early Monday.
He says Daigle was booked with first-degree murder of a police officer and faces other charges.
Daigle is accused of killing Senior Trooper Steven Vincent, who was trying to talk the apparently stranded motorist out of a truck that was stuck in a ditch. Vincent was shot Sunday afternoon and died Monday.
Sgt. James Anderson, a regional state police spokesman, said Sunday that Daigle had been hospitalized to treat minor injuries suffered when other motorists wrestled him away from Vincent’s body and handcuffed him.
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12:30 p.m.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has ordered the flags at all state buildings flown at half-staff until Friday for the death of state Senior Trooper Steven Vincent.
He describes Vincent as “an honorable husband, father and state trooper who courageously served our state for over a decade.”
Lake Charles Mayor Randy Roach says Vincent was also “a military veteran; and a man who loved his community and his profession.” He says times like this remind us that men and women in law enforcement “day in and day out work willingly, selflessly and heroically, to protect the rest of us.”
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu says, “Louisiana State Police officers are integral members of our New Orleans family, so our city joins the rest of the state in mourning this tragic loss.”
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11:40 a.m.
The head of Louisiana State Police describes the trooper killed with a sawed-off shotgun as a man who lived “a tremendously enriched life in his faith and his family.”
Col. Mike Edmonson says Senior Trooper Steven Vincent was a runner who ran a marathon the night before his death, just for fun — and told a colleague he couldn’t wait to see how his body reacted to chicken and a biscuit.
At a news conference broadcast live by KPLC-TV, Edmonson said, “Nobody wore this badge more proudly than Steven Vincent.”
Edmonson says dashboard video was frightening and showed that Vincent did everything right. Officials have not released the video.
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11:40 a.m.
At a news conference Monday, the head of the Louisiana State Police introduced the good Samaritan who wrestled a sawed-off shotgun away from the man accused of shooting a state trooper.
Saying, “This is a hero,” Col. Mike Edmonson said Robert LeDoux of Iowa, Louisiana, (EYE-uh-way) was the first of four people who stopped to help. Edmonson says all four are heroes.
Edmonson says that when another driver told LeDoux that a trooper had been shot, he sped to the scene, jumped out, and without thought for his own safety, grabbed Kevin Daigle and “moved him off our trooper.”
He says LeDoux then used Vincent’s radio to say an officer was down and in urgent need of help.
LeDoux did not speak at the news conference. Edmonson shook hands with him, then hugged him.
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10:34 a.m.
Louisiana State Police say the man accused of shooting a trooper in the head will be charged with first-degree murder of an officer.
Senior Trooper Steven Vincent died Monday at a hospital in Lake Charles, a day after he was shot by a man whose pickup truck was stuck sideways in a ditch.
Col. Mike Edmonson, head of the Louisiana State Police, said during a news conference that officials are working to charge 54-year-old Kevin Daigle with first-degree murder. He already had faced charges including attempted first-degree murder of a police officer.
Daigle was wrestled to the ground by other motorists who saw the fallen policeman.
Edmonson says Vincent was a 13-year Louisiana State Police veteran who was married and has a nine-year-old son.
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9:07 a.m.
A veteran Louisiana State Police trooper has died of a head wound suffered while he tried to help a stranded motorist.
Col. Mike Edmonson, head of the Louisiana State Police, says 43-year-old Senior Trooper Steven Vincent died Monday at a hospital in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Edmonson says Vincent was shot by a man whose pickup truck was stuck sideways in a ditch.
Edmonson says 54-year-old Kevin Daigle of Lake Charles has been arrested. Daigle faces charges including attempted first-degree murder of a police officer.
Daigle was wrestled to the ground by other motorists who saw the fallen policeman.
Edmonson says Vincent was a 13-year Louisiana State Police veteran who was married and has a nine-year-old son.
