LOUISIANA STATE TROOPER SHOOTS, KILLS DRUG SUSPECT

A Louisiana State trooper shot a drug smuggler to death Sunday night
as he tried to flee troopers clinging to the car by driving head-on
toward oncoming traffic on Interstate 12 near the Airport exit in
Hammond, sheriff's spokesperson Chuck Reed said this morning.

Trooper Steve Paulus, of Troop L in Covington, stopped a 2004
Chevrolet Impala in the eastbound on I-12 for a traffic violation and
quickly realized he had a criminal patrol situation, according to
statements made to Tangipahoa Parish sheriff's detectives who are the
lead investigators in the shooting.

The stop was made just before midnight.

The two men in the vehicle said they were from Philadelphia, Pa.,
Detective Mark Apperson reported, but spoke with what may be Caribbean
or Jamaican accents.

The trooper called for backup, Reed said, and was completing a search
of the car's interior when one of the men jumped into the driver's
seat, cranked the engine and started driving away.

Trooper Paulus jumped into the passenger seat as the car lurched
forward, while Trooper Donald Pierce tried to restrain the driver
through the driver's side window. Pierce was thrown free of the car
when the driver, who has not been identified by detectives,
accelerated.

Paulus pulled his service automatic and demanded the driver stop, but
he refused and sped toward the westbound lanes. Paulus told deputies,
he gave the driver repeated demands to stop, but the man wouldn't.

The trooper fired one shot from his Glock .40-caliber semi-automatic,
striking the driver in the right temple, statements and evidence
confirm, Apperson reported.

The trooper was able to bring the car to a stop within about five feet
of the westbound lanes, sheriff's detectives said.

They found and impounded 77 pounds of high-grade marijuana.

The passenger in the vehicle gave his name as Christopher

Mark Thompson, 20, of 4050 Teesdale St., Philadelphia, Pa., sheriff's
reports show, and he was booked with possession of marijuana with the
intent to distribute.

The driver's name has not been released pending notification of next
of kin, Detective Jerry McDowell said.

Detectives have questions about the identities of both men and are
awaiting fingerprint verification, Apperson said.

Trooper Paulus has been reassigned, Reed said, until completion of
both the sheriff's office and State Police internal investigations.