Louisiana State Police have been asked to investigate a fatal shooting involving prison transport officers in West Feliciana Parish, the agency said in a news release Wednesday.
According to State Police, the shooting happened shortly before 7:30 a.m. Wednesday on U.S. 61 near the Mississippi state line and involved Catahoula Correctional Center inmate transport officers.
Correctional officers Mark Cagle and Johnny Nelson were transporting two inmates from the correctional center to Baton Rouge for court when one of the inmates, Raymond Huddleston, 46, of Baton Rouge, faked a seizure near St. Francisville, Catahoula Sheriff Toney Edwards said in a Facebook post.
When the two deputies stopped the van to help Huddleston, he lunged from the van and attacked both officers, Edwards said. Huddleston attempted to grab Nelson's gun, striking both officers while the weapon was still in its holster.
Huddleston took the gun but dropped it and got into in the van's driver's seat to flee while the other inmate was still secured in the vehicle, Edwards said.
Nelson retrieved his gun, and both officers fired at Huddleston "in an attempt to stop the threat of injuries to the other inmate and/or other people," Edwards said.
Huddleston died from gunshot wounds, a Catahoula sheriff's spokesperson said. It is unclear which officer fired the fatal shot.
Both officers were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and released Wednesday.
Huddleston was arrested by the Baton Rouge Police Department in March 2023 on a count each of aggravated kidnapping, domestic abuse battery (strangulation), obstruction of justice, possession of a firearm or carrying a concealed weapon by a person convicted of certain felonies, domestic abuse aggravated assault, resisting an officer and illegal possession of stolen firearms, according to arrest documents.
"Investigators are working diligently to process the crime scene and gather further information," State Police said.
Advocate writer Ellyn Couvillion contributed to this story.