By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Louisiana State Police have filed additional charges for three of the seven suspects involved in the fatal shooting of St. John the Baptist Parish sheriff’s deputies last week.

A St. John the Baptist Parish judge has also granted a gag order in the case, limiting what statements attorneys and law enforcement officials can make regarding the case.

Shooting suspects Brian Lyn Smith, 24, and Kyle David Joekel, 28, have been charged with two counts of first-degree murder of a police officer in the deaths of Deputy Brandon Nielsen and Deputy Jeremy Triche. Smith and Joekel have also been charged with three additional counts of attempted first-degree murder of a police officer.

Suspect Brittney Keith, 23, is now facing two counts of principal to first-degree murder of a police officer and three counts of principal to attempted first-degree murder of a police officer.

Joekel was charged on the same day he was released from the hospital, where he was recovering from injuries sustained in the shooting. He now joins six other suspects involved in the Aug. 16 murders of Nielsen and Triche and the shootings of Michael “Scott” Boyington and Jason Triche. Smith, Keith, Terry Smith, Derrick Smith, Chanel Skains, Tenicha Bright and Joekel are all being held at the St. Charles Parish Correctional Center.

The St. John Parish District Attorney’s Office on Thursday acknowledged receipt of the new charges. Those charges could be brought before a grand jury on Sep. 4. Authorities with State Police were not releasing any further details regarding the investigation.

Also on Thursday, 40th Judicial District Judge J. Sterling Snowdy granted a gag order requested by attorneys for Brian Smith and Joekel during a closed hearing at the St. John Parish Courthouse in Edgard.

Following the hearing, St. John District Attorney Tom Daley said all parties had agreed it was in the best interest of the case to have the order, which “restricts us in our ability to discuss the case.”

The motion was one of several filed by defense attorneys William Boggs, an Orleans public defender appointed to represent Joekel, and Richard Bourke, an attorney with the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center appointed to represent Brian Smith, during the Thursday hearing.

A hearing for the motions, including one asking the judge to set bond, is set for Tuesday.

St. John Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre said Tuesday that Boyington and Jason Triche continue to recover at separate hospitals. There is no anticipated release date for either deputy, he said.

The new charges issued late Wednesday are the first new charges filed since the shooting, which was described by authorities as an “ambush” and an “assassination.” Until now, the suspects arrested were only facing charges stemming from the Boyington shooting, which took place near a remote parking lot in LaPlace. Terry Smith, 44, faces a charge of principal to attempted first-degree murder of a police officer. Skains, 37, identified as his wife, was booked as an accessory to first-degree murder.

Brian Smith, an elder son of Terry Smith, and the alleged gunman in the Boyington shooting, was initially booked with attempted first-degree murder of a police officer. Keith, his girlfriend, was first arrested as an accessory.

Terry Smith’s younger son, Derrick Smith, 22, was booked with principal to attempted first-degree murder. Joekel was first booked with principal to attempted first-degree murder of a police officer, and Bright was arrested as a principal to attempted first-degree murder of a police officer.

Authorities have not determined when the group arrived in the St. John area. Terry and Derrick Smith were identified as contract workers employed at a joint venture project at the Valero St. Charles Refinery. Some of the suspects are known to have ties to a violent anti-government organization known as Sovereign Citizens, which is on the FBI’s watch list. Their actions were being monitored prior to the shootings.

Boyington was working a traffic detail around 4 a.m. in the parking lot, which is used by Valero St. Charles Refinery contract workers and sustained wounds from gunshots fired from a vehicle. Boyington was hit several times but survived and managed to alert dispatch to a description of his shooter’s vehicle. Authorities were able to place all three Smiths, Joekel and Bright in that car.

The other deputies were attacked when they went to Riverview Trailer Park, where the suspects lived. Deputies Jeremy Triche and Brandon Nielsen had tracked the vehicle used in the initial shooting to a residence at the trailer park and were killed when a suspect opened fire on them with an assault rifle while they were questioning two others. Deputy Jason Triche was also injured in the shootings.