Oopsie! LSP Trooper shoots Federal Agent in French Quarter

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A federal agent from Kentucky was shot twice by a Louisiana State Police trooper early Sunday (Dec. 2) while he was heading back to his hotel from the French Quarter, his attorney said.

New Orleans lawyer Elizabeth Carpenter said her client, who was visiting New Orleans with plans to depart on a cruise with his wife, was shot in the stomach and knee as he headed through an empty parking lot around 2 a.m. on his way back to the downtown Holiday Inn on Loyola Avenue. The U.S Army Criminal Investigation Command confirmed that the man Carpenter identified as her client works for the division as a “civilian special agent.” The Times-Picayune is not naming the wounded man because he has not been charged with any crime. The man was visiting New Orleans for the first time when he noticed juveniles following him on his way home, according to Carpenter. Her client was frightened because he was being followed and was possibly lost, she said. At one point, he started running, Carpenter said, then pulled out a gun he had with him. He then felt two shots, to his stomach and knee. Carpenter said her client did not see who shot him and did not hear or see any warnings before being shot.

The wounded man’s wife received a call at about 4:45 a.m. Sunday, to learn her husband was shot and in the hospital, Carpenter said. The couple had been together earlier in the French Quarter before she decided to head back to the hotel by herself. Carpenter said that, according to her client’s wife, at the time of the shooting he had not had anything to drink for hours.

Carpenter said her client is free to go once he is cleared at the hospital and has not been told he is accused of a crime.

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