Jefferson Parish Sheriff's deputies shot and killed a man in Marrero early Wednesday morning.
According to the sheriff's office, deputies were investigating a 9-1-1 complaint when they came across the subject in an S-U-V parked on Wilson Street and asked him to get out.
Authorities say after several minutes of trying to talk the man out of the vehicle, the suspect started the engine, and that's when deputies in the path of the vehicle fired, striking and killing the man.
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However, does that act of starting the vehicle authorize officers to use deadly force?
“The standard is the same as self-defense, whether it was justified because the officer was reasonably in fear of death or substantial bodily harm,” says Loyola Law Professor Dane Ciolino.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting.
“When questions arise, then the state police might get involved to be essentially an independent investigator, but, in the vast majority of these cases, the investigation will be done in-house, essentially by the JPSO’s Internal Affairs,” said Ciolino.
“And the standard here is the same that would be applied to any shooting, that is, whether the deputy who fired the fatal shot reasonably believed that the shooting was necessary to save his life or to prevent himself from suffering substantial bodily injury,” said Ciolino.
The sheriff’s office says it is reviewing body camera video of the shooting as part of their investigation. The identity of the man has not yet been released.