I-10 E/B Is Shut Down For Officer Involved Shooting

Interstate I-10 Eastbound between Highway 397 and the town of Iowa is currently shut down due to an officer-involved shooting. The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office has released a statement about the incident.

It seems that a traffic stop was initiated by the Deputy around 10:00 am this morning on I-10 Eastbound near mile marker 38. The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy with the Combined Anti-Drug Task Force (C.A.T. Team) found illegal narcotics.

According to Kayla Vincent with the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office,

During the traffic stop investigation, the deputy was conducting a search of the vehicle, at which time he located illegal narcotics.  While the deputy was still inside the vehicle, the suspect entered the driver’s side and drove off, fleeing the scene, with the deputy still inside, kidnapping the deputy.  The deputy made verbal commands for the suspect to stop and he did not comply, at which time the deputy fired his weapon, hitting the suspect.

The vehicle crashed and the suspect and deputy were transported to a local hospital.

Upon request from Sheriff Tony Mancuso, The Lousiana State Police were called to the scene to conduct an investigation into the officer-involved shooting.

No word yet on when I-10 Eastbound will reopen. The traffic currently looks like this on I-10 Eastbound.