A sheriff’s deputy was killed and a suspect wounded in a shooting in a Baton Rouge barber shop Saturday, Louisiana authorities said.
Sgt. Shawn Thomas Anderson of the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office died in the shooting, Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said Sunday. The two deputies were conducting a rape investigation.
“While inside the business, deputies struggled with the suspect and shots were fired,” Gautreaux said in a statement.
“Our hearts are broken as we grieve for one of our brothers,” he said.
The second deputy was not injured. The shooter was injured and taken to a local hospital, Gautreaux said. Their identities were not released.
Anderson was a decorated 18-year veteran of the sheriff’s office. A year ago, he was recognized for delivering a baby on the side of a road, the sheriff’s statement said.
On March 19, 2016, Anderson and two other deputies encountered a couple in a car who couldn’t reach the hospital because the woman was in labor. Anderson delivered the baby, cleared the newborn’s airway and gave him a tap to make sure he was healthy.
That night “took the cake” in his career, Anderson told the Baton Rouge newspaper The Advocate.
“You put me in an active shooter situation, I’m there. I know exactly what to do,” Anderson said. “Nothing really rattles me that much, but that was totally outside of my element. That right there, that got me. Thank God everything worked out.”
Anderson was killed a day before that baby’s first birthday.
The East Baton Rouge Sheriffs Office posted a tribute to him on Facebook as “a poignant reminder that Sgt. Anderson lives on in the countless ways he has positively impacted so many.”
“Such a tragic event last night in Baton Rouge. Donna & I are praying for the family of the @EBRSheriff killed in the line of duty,” tweeted Governor John Bel Edwards.
This was the second killing to hit the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office in nine months.
In July, a Missouri man ambushed and killed three law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge — including one from East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office.
