Louisiana trooper shot by man during traffic stop dies

The man accused of shooting to death Louisiana State Trooper Steven Vincent on Sunday may also be connected to the death of his roommate, whose body was found Monday, law enforcement said. “That guy’s got a gun, ‘” LeDoux told The Associated Press as he recounted how it was that he ended up tackling and capturing the gunman on Sunday.

The State Police superintendent, Colonel Michael D. Edmonson, described Senior Trooper Steven J. Vincent’s death as “senseless and tragic”.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Ambassador Kenneth Hackett said he expected migration, income inequality, family problems and the environment to be raised by Francis during his September 22-27 visit to Washington, New York and Philadelphia. The chief called LeDoux a hero when he introduced him at the news conference Monday.

He said the tape shows a shotgun blast, and then Daigle wandering over to Vincent to ask him if he was still alive.

Vincent was shot in the line of duty Sunday while assisting a motorist near Lake Charles. They said they were calling 911, but that he shouldn’t approach the patrol auto because they had seen a man brandishing a gun by the trooper.

Edmonson said Daigle had several findings of driving under the influence on his record and other arrests that he wouldn’t discuss because he didn’t know whether they resulted in convictions.

He said a deputy went by the home Monday morning after authorities were notified that the roommate had not arrived at work. The trooper got to the truck at 2:43 p.m., Anderson said.

Authorities plan to charge Daigle with first-degree murder in the troopers slaying.

‘You could hear him breathing, telling him, ‘You’re lucky. You’re lucky – you’re going to die soon’.

At a Sunday night news conference in Lake Charles carried live by KPLC-TV (http://bit.ly/1Ed3Lta), he said Vincent was hit by two or three buckshot pellets.

Edmonson said that the shooting was recorded on video and that Vincent had offered to help Daigle, before the driver opened fire with a sawed-off shotgun. He took off anyway straight to the scene.

People at the mass Monday remembered Vincent as a dedicated officer and loving family man. Though his passing is painful, the community is banding together in order to stay strong.

LeDoux said it wasn’t until he saw the trooper’s name tag that he realized he knew the officer because he was good friends with the officer’s brother, also in law enforcement.

Regional spokesman James Anderson says both Vincent and Daigle are white.

Edmonson said Vincent has a wife and a 9-year-old son.

The disagreements – including in Congress and among Republican presidential candidates – have become more pointed since Francis released his economic-environmental manifesto “Praise Be”, in which he denounced the “structurally perverse” global financial system that he said has exploited the poor and destroyed God’s creation.