By Monique Roth
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — Yellow caution tape, lines of deputies, police vehicles with activated lights and grieving community members were the ominous visual indicators Wednesday afternoon that a tragedy had occurred on Pine Street in LaPlace.

St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office Lt. Nolan Anderson died in a blue house on Pine Street after fellow deputies, who were responding to a domestic disturbance call involving Anderson, shot him. Anderson died at River Parishes Hospital before he could be taken to another facility, authorities said.

Sheriff Mike Tregre announced the news during an emotional press conference Wednesday afternoon.

According to Sheriff’s Office call records, dispatchers received a domestic disturbance call from someone on Pine Street at 1:39 p.m. Wednesday. Tregre said the call involved Anderson, 50, and Anderson’s wife.

Authorities said Anderson, who was on call and in uniform at the time of the shooting, fired several shots into the air and at responding deputies before he was shot. Anderson’s wife was never shot and suffered “superficial wounds,” according to state police. She is expected to make a full recovery.

Tregre said he would not go into the couple’s history of domestic violence.

“Officers took extreme measures to talk (Anderson) down,” Tregre said. “Life is full of decisions. (Anderson) made a decision, and we had to make a decision to use lethal force.”

Louisiana State Police Trooper Melissa Matey said from the call’s response time to the time of death, the entire incident lasted no longer than 30 minutes.

Tregre said Louisiana State Police have been called into investigate, adding the move is standard procedure when there is a shooting involving an officer.

Grief counselors are on duty for Sheriff’s Office staff.

“It’s a day that I never thought I would see,” Tregre said. “I have experienced tragedy in St. John Parish, but to see my officers have to use lethal force against one of my very own? I never thought I’d see this day.”

Matey said the investigation is in its preliminary stages, adding she is not sure who lived at the house the couple was at when the shooting took place. She said the LSP crime lab is processing all collected evidence.

“We don’t ever put a timeline on investigations because investigations are very fluid,” Matey said Thursday, adding it could be days, weeks or months until the LSP turns over the case to another authority.

She said cases “evolve and can evolve very quickly.”

Matey said once complete, the case would be in the hands of the St. John Parish District Attorney’s Office, who would handle the prosecution, if any, that resulted from the investigation.

She said District Attorney Tom Daley could recuse his office from the case after it was handed over, but she didn’t foresee that happening.

When questioned about how many officers were involved in the shooting, if anyone had been cleared of wrongdoing or who initially called in the domestic disturbance complaint, Matey said information is being continuously collected and the investigation is ongoing.

“Nothing has changed since (Wednesday),” Matey said Thursday.

A clearly emotional Tregre said he would not comment Wednesday on Anderson’s career as a police officer, but added everyone knew Anderson, went to school with him or played ball with him.

“We all knew Nolan,” Tregre said.