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July 25, 2009
The Louisiana State Police Bureau of Investigations/Alexandria Field Office is investigating a Friday shooting in which a Colfax Police officer fatally shot a man.
The shooting happened around 2:45 p.m., according to a State Police release. According to that release, Colfax Police Officer Stephen Merchant witnessed a physical altercation between Harold Phillips, 54, of Colfax, and an unidentified person on Chester Street while on patrol. As Merchant approached the two, Phillips fled on foot.
The foot pursuit led Merchant to Ash Street, where a physical altercation occurred between Officer Merchant and Phillips. It was at that time that Merchant shot Phillips, according to the report.
The Colfax Police Department requested that the State Police investigate the incident. The Grant Parish Sheriff's Office is assisting in the investigation.
Phillips was transported to Rapides Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The investigation is ongoing and, at the conclusion, the case will be forwarded to the Grant Parish District Attorney's Office.
The Town Talk
Couple Sues Police Over Dog's Death, Abuse In Raid
Yes, this involves cops threatening children with machine guns
By JIM NEWELL
Updated 6:31 AM EDT, Wed, Jul 29, 2009
The Hendersons' story spread like hotcakes in January 2008 after a Howard County SWAT team entered their Columbia home, late at night, brandishing a warrant for a major drug-dealing operation -- for some other home down the street: "a nearby house the police raided later that evening more closely matched the warrant’s description, and contained marijuana, a pair of scales and large sums of money." All they found drug-wise in the Hendersons' home was some pot and a bowl belonging to their house guest, who was immediately arrested for possession. Couple Sues
Officers involved in fatal La. shooting resign
(AP) – 1 day ago
HOMER, La. — Two white police officers involved in the fatal shooting of a 73-year-old black man in northern Louisiana have resigned from the force.
The Feb. 20 shooting of Bernard Monroe Sr. sparked protests and at least two investigations.
Officer Tim Cox, who shot Monroe in his yard, and Officer Joey Henry, who was present at the time of the shooting, have decided to pursue other employment, said Homer city attorney Jim Colvin.
"Tim Cox told me he is moving to St. Tammany Parish and I think will be training canines for police departments," Colvin said. "I don't know what Joey Henry is going to do."
Both officers had been on paid administrative leave after the shooting, which is still under investigation by the FBI and state police.
"They should have been gone," said Rev. Willie Young, head of the Claiborne Parish NAACP, on Wednesday. "I don't think taxpayers should have been paying their salaries all this time."
Monroe, who was mute after losing his larynx to cancer, was cooking on a grill in his yard with relatives and friends when the police officers arrived. In a report to state authorities, Homer police said Cox and Henry chased Monroe's 38-year-old son, Shaun, from a suspected drug deal blocks away to his father's house.
Witnesses disputed that account, saying the younger Monroe was talking to his sister-in-law in a truck outside the house when officers arrived.
There was a scuffle between the officers and Shaun, in which Shaun was shocked with a Taser. Police said the elder Monroe then pulled a gun on them and Cox fired his weapon. Witnesses claim Bernard Monroe was unarmed as he walked toward his porch.
State police said in February that a loaded gun was found on or near Monroe's body. But friends and relatives suggested police planted a gun Monroe owned next to his body.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana is studying arrests and traffic citations by Homer police as part of an investigation of racial profiling complaints against the department.
Reached by phone on Wednesday, Police Chief Russell Mills refused to comment.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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