Sandy MaloneBaton Rouge, LA – A former Baton Rouge police officer was fatally shot in a gun battle on Sunday by a man he caught breaking into vehicles.
The incident occurred at about 11:45 p.m. on April 26, just hours after a Baton Rouge police officer was killed, and another was critically wounded, in an ambush, WBRZ reported.
Baton Rouge Police Spokesman Sergeant Don Coppola Jr. said 41-year-old Ryan Hord confronted a man he believed was breaking into cars in the 200-block of Richland Avenue, The Advocate reported.
Hord and the suspect engaged in a brief gun battle and the former police officer was fatally shot.
Sgt. Coppola said Hord was pronounced dead at the scene, according to The Advocate.
He said the suspect, who was also wounded in the gunfight, fled the area.
WAFB reported that the former police officer was about a block from his home when he was killed.
The suspect, whose name has not yet been released, was later apprehended by a Baton Rouge Police Department K9 officer, The Advocate reported.
Police said the suspect was 29 years old and had been taken to the hospital for treatment of his gunshot wound.
Sgt. Coppola said the suspect would be booked into jail when he is released from the hospital, The Advocate reported.
He said that Hord joined the Baton Rouge police in 2009 and served the department for a few years, according to The Advocate.
The sergeant said there is no evidence that Hord’s murder was linked in any way to the shootings of the Baton Rouge police officers earlier in the day.
A homicide suspect opened fire on Baton Rouge police early on Sunday morning when officers were responding to a tip about his whereabouts.
While officers were checking the area, 36-year-old Ronnie Cato opened fire on them.
One of the officers was fatally shot, and the other was critically wounded.