Veteran Louisiana Officer Shot To Death, Another ‘Fighting For His Life’ As Police Arrest Suspect

A 21-year veteran police officer in Louisiana died and his colleague was left severely injured after a homicide suspect opened fire on Sunday. Police took the suspect into custody several hours later after a long standoff.

The officers, who were not immediately identified by the Baton Rouge Police Department, responded to a tip-off about a domestic violence homicide in the city's Howell Park neighborhood. The suspect was arrested without incident several hours after the shooting, The Advocate reported.

"Our officers — talk about being public servants and the responsibility that comes along with being a law enforcement officer," Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul said. "This is a call no chief wants to get."

The suspect, identified as Ronnie Kato, 36, was at a house in the 3100 block of Conrad Drive near Winbourne Avenue. Paul said the responding officers were shot at around 1:30 p.m. (EST) on the yard of the house when they tried to contact Kato. The officers reportedly believed Kato was responsible for fatally shooting a person, Curtis Richardson, 58, at around 10:30 a.m. (EST) on North Pamela Drive, a residential street 5 ½ miles from the Conrad Drive house. Richardson was pronounced dead at the scene and police said the incident was likely domestic violence-related.

SWAT officers were able to detain him at around 5:00 p.m. (EST) after an hours-long standoff. He was barricaded inside the house the entire time. No one was apparently injured in the gunfight.

Kato is likely to be booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison under first-degree murder and several other charges.

Two ambulances, accompanied by multiple law enforcement vehicles, escorted the fallen officer’s body away from Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, where the other officer was “fighting for his life.”

Paul hoped for a speedy recovery of the injured officer, who has been a 7-year veteran at the department. "Not only were these police officers public servants — they were fathers, husbands, loved by their families," he said.

"Our hearts are heavy today as we mourn the loss of a dedicated public servant who made the ultimate sacrifice for the people of Baton Rouge and the state of Louisiana," Governor John Bel Edwards said in a tweet later that evening. "This officer protected and served the Baton Rouge community for more than 20 years, and we will never be able to fully repay him for his heroism and commitment to keeping us safe."