NOPD investigates ‘unclassified’ death of officer shot inside Gentilly home

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A female New Orleans police officer was shot and found dead Tuesday (Dec. 13) inside a Gentilly home.

“Some very, very horrible news,” NOPD Supt. Shaun Ferguson said.

Ferguson said the death was considered “unclassified,” pending results of its investigation. But the 36-year-old officer -- a nine-year veteran of the department -- was someone other officers were sent to check on Tuesday morning, leading to the discovery of her body.

“At approximately 8:39 (a.m.), Third District officers responded to a call for a welfare check in the 5100 block of Touro Street,” Ferguson said. “It’s a bad day, and I just ask that you keep our officers, this community and this family in your prayers.”

Neighbors said they were in shock.

“I probably was the last person she talked to before she died,” neighbor Adrian Darby said.

Darby lives next door to the officer and said that on Tuesday morning, she was having car trouble and asked him and his son for help.

“Everything was great, and I can’t see how this could have happened, because she acted like everything was normal,” Darby said.

He says he couldn’t get her car started, so he left for work.

He said the woman went back inside the home. Soon after, Darby’s son heard commotion outside when he said another woman arrived to the home.

“She was just screaming. Everybody could hear her. She was just screaming,” Darby said.

Councilman Eugene Green and Mayor LaToya Cantrell arrived to console officers, neighbors and family members.

“I just left the mayor at the mother and father’s house. I spoke to the mother and father and informed them of what we are investigating,” Ferguson said.

Cantrell tweeted a statement on the death that said in part, “Tragedies such as this ripple through the hearts of our entire police force as well as our entire community. We must not take for granted the women and men who place their lives on the line daily to protect our residents. Balancing the weight of life while facing the challenges of the job can sometimes be a heavy load to carry.”

Green said, “We need to recognize that there are sometimes pressures that we as a community need to be sympathetic with and provide support.”

The Orleans Parish Coroner’s office will determine the cause and manner of death.

Ferguson noted that the department has now experienced a tragic loss for the second time this week. Days before, Yolanda Dillion, 54, who was a budget analyst for NOPD, was killed in Harvey by 29-year-old Brandon Jacobs while working as an Uber driver.

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