By robin shannon

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s detectives are searching for an unidentified man who allegedly fired gunshots at a deputy on patrol in a Reserve neighborhood Saturday morning.

The deputy, who returned fire, was not injured in the incident, which occurred just after 1:30 a.m. near the intersection of East 23rd Street and River Road in Reserve, said Capt. Dane Clement, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office. Clement said investigators recovered a gun they say was used by the suspect, but there was no sign of the unidentified shooter.

Clement said the deputy was on routine patrol in the 100 block of East 23rd Street when he saw a suspicious man, dressed in all dark clothing and a red hat, running behind buildings. The deputy later spotted the suspect walking on East 23rd Street approaching River Road.

“The deputy wanted to speak to the subject, so he yelled at the subject to stop and identified himself as police,” Clement said. “The subject ran, and the deputy gave chase.”

According to a Sheriff’s Office report, the deputy saw the unidentified man turn around and, at the same time, heard a gunshot. The subject ran again, stopped, turned, crouched down and fired at the deputy.  

Clement said the deputy returned fire, and the subject ran and jumped a nearby fence.  When the deputy ran around the fence, he saw the subject, but the deputy lost sight of him when he ran behind a house. Responding deputies searched the area for the suspect, but he could not be found.

Clement said no evidence at the scene indicated that the suspect was shot. He added that all area hospitals were alerted of the incident, but no hospital reported a patient with a gunshot wound.

According to the report, investigators located a .38-caliber revolver where the suspect jumped the fence. Investigators suspect the man dropped the revolver when jumping the fence. Clement said investigators performed a routine weapon check and learned that the gun was reported stolen in St. John Parish on Oct. 3, 2011.

Anyone with information regarding the shooting is asked to call St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives at 985-359-8769 or Crimestoppers at 505-822-1111.