Update: 08/08/11

The names of the 4 officers involved in this shooting are as follows: 

Officer Paul Brown 27, hired July 2006 assigned to Uniform Patrol First District

Officer Richard McCloskey 29, hired April 2008 assigned to Uniform Patrol Fourth District

Officer Nicholas Morgan 31, hired November 2004 assigned to Uniform Patrol First District

Officer Joshua Ellis 36, hired July 2007 assigned to Uniform Patrol First District

Four Baton Rouge Police Officers have been placed on paid administrative leave for their involvement in a shooting that occurred in West Baton Rouge Parish around 11:30pm on Friday August 5, 2011.

At approximately 11:15pm a Uniform Baton Rouge Police Officer operating a fully marked Baton Rouge Police car attempted to pull over a violator on Airline Hwy near Florida Blvd. The driver, a white male, refused to comply and led police on a pursuit north on Airline Highway across the Old Mississippi River Bridge into West Baton Rouge Parish. The pursuit, which never reached high speeds, continued west on Highway 190 passed the intersection of Highway 415. At approximately one mile west of the Hwy 415 intersection on Highway 190 the driver pulled his vehicle over to the right shoulder. Uniformed Baton Rouge Police Officers then ordered him out the vehicle. As he exited his vehicle Officers observed a gun in his hand. Officers ordered him to drop the gun and after refusing to comply with officer’s commands officers shot him. As a result of the shooting the driver died at the scene, he was the sole occupant of the vehicle.

All four officers involved are assigned to the Departments Uniform Patrol Division. It is standard procedure to put an officer involved in a shooting on paid administrative leave.

Louisiana State Police will be the lead investigating agency on this shooting. State Police Investigators along with the State Police Crime Lab were summoned to the area to initiate the investigation and process the scene. Baton Rouge Police Violent Crimes Division along with West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriffs Office assisted with the on scene investigation. The West Baton Rouge Parish Coroners Office removed the deceased body from the scene.

Sgt. Donald Stone
Media Relations Division
Office of the Chief of Police

Baton Rouge Police Dept.