Louisiana State Police have confirmed that escaped inmate Desmond Louis has died following a shootout with law enforcement Thursday afternoon.
The search for Louis ended with the suspect being shot on 11th Street in Lake Charles Thursday afternoon.
About two hours after Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso and Beauregard Parish Sheriff Mark Herford held a news conference giving an update on the search for Desmond Louis, law enforcement surrounded a home on 11th Street, near Golf Street.
Mancuso said Louis came out of the home shooting, officers returned fire, and Louis was shot.
“We obviously tried to negotiate with him to get him to come out on his own,” Mancuso said. “We were able to get three others to come out of the house. We tried to tear gas him. That didn’t work. He ended up starting to shoot at us. Even our armored vehicle has shots where you can tell he shot at us.”
The three others inside the home are now in custody, Mancuso said.
Authorities say Louis was a work-release inmate who walked off a job at Cancun restaurant on Ryan Street Monday evening.
Wednesday night at approximately 9 p.m., Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives received information revealing Louis was live on social media, said Kayla Vincent of the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Detectives began viewing the social media feed and observed Louis to be travelling as a passenger in a car on Highway 171, Vincent said. CPSO detectives began searching for Louis on Highway 171 and pulled onto the shoulder in an attempt to locate Louis.
A fully marked CPSO patrol unit observed what he believed to be the car Louis was in traveling on Highway 171 near Cobb Circle in Moss Bluff. The deputy activated his lights and siren in to initiate a traffic stop, Vincent said.
The driver, later learned to be a 16-year-old juvenile, pulled over in front of the detective’s unit, Vincent said. CPSO detectives exited the vehicle, at which time Louis began shooting at detectives, causing detectives to fire back. No injuries were sustained during the gunfire.
The car fled the scene at which time a pursuit ensued and the driver ultimately pulled over near Jillian Drive in Beauregard Parish. It was learned Louis fled the car prior to the driver stopping, Vincent said.
Two passengers in the car, Keasia J. Wilfred, 19, Lake Charles, who is the owner of the car, and Dannirriah Louis, 19, Lake Charles, were arrested and booked into the Beauregard Parish Jail and transported to the Calcasieu Correctional Center, Vincent said. They are both charged with 2 counts of principal to attempted first degree murder and accessory after the fact to simple escape. Their bonds are still pending.
