Three citizens and one sheriff’s deputy died in officer-involved shootings last year in Baton Rouge, according to the second annual report on such shootings from East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore’s office.
The numbers represent a drop from 2016 when three law enforcement officers and five citizens were killed in officer-involved shootings.
In 2017, a weapon was used in two of the encounters and attempted to be used in one. The DA’s office is currently reviewing all four deaths, and brief descriptions of each encounter are included in the report.
Moore issued the first-ever report on officer-involved shootings in the parish last year, citing a lack of transparency with the process. It came after a high-profile year for such shootings, when Alton Sterling’s death set off widespread protests and a lone gunman targeted police officers, shooting six and killing three.
In his latest report, Moore again calls for better treatment of the mentally ill, writing that as many as half of the shootings in Baton Rouge involve people suffering from mental illness, which is double the national rate.
“This fact alone suggests our entire community must take greater responsibility for treatment and care of the mentally ill,” he says.
