Law enforcement officials work a crime scene in the Spring Park Plaza in Denham Springs on Thursday, May 11, 2023.
New details have emerged to shed more light on the events surrounding the shooting of a Denham Springs police officer last week.
Cpl. Shawn Kelly, a 26-year law enforcement veteran currently serving in the Denham Springs Police Department, remains hospitalized in critical condition after being shot while responding to a disturbance in the Spring Park Plaza on Thursday.
Authorities have said 30-year-old Justin Roberts, of Denham Springs, shot Kelly multiple times before fleeing the scene. A Livingston Parish sheriff’s deputy later shot Roberts, who died hours after from the injuries.
Since the incident involved both the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office and Denham Springs Police Department, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office was asked to lead the investigation, which they revealed in a report this week.
The report starts at 3:45 p.m. Thursday — roughly 45 minutes before the first shooting — and goes through the shooter’s apprehension around 4:30 p.m. In addition to providing new information about the two shootings, the report also details other incidents pointing to Roberts, though he is not mentioned by name in those incidents.
According to the report, homicide detectives conducted interviews “with all of the involved officers and deputies.” That information, detectives said, “was consistent” with the video-surveillance footage and the evidence at both crime scenes.
In its conclusion, the EBRSO report supported the actions taken by local authorities.
“EBRSO's review supports the actions taken by both the DSPD Officers and LPSO Deputy,” the report stated.
The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office said “all investigative materials” will be released to both agencies as well as the Livingston Parish District Attorney’s office “for any further review or release of information.”
3:45 p.m. on Thursday, May 11
A Livingston Parish resident was driving in the parking lot of 2358 S. Range Avenue when a man driving a gold Jeep Cherokee followed her from the Petco parking lot to her Denham Springs residence, according to the EBRSO report.
During the incident, the male driver cut her off “several times” and “brake checked” her while driving.
The male driver followed the female as she pulled into her driveway but “backed out of the driveway and left the area” when she pulled into the garage and closed the door.
4:03 p.m. on Thursday, May 11
DSPD officers responded to a disturbance at 240 Range 12 Blvd. after receiving “a call of a male yelling and threatening a patron walking past him” near the Sports Clips Haircuts.
The suspect in this incident was described as “a black male” who drove “a gold Jeep Cherokee,” descriptions consistent with the first incident.
The suspect was last seen headed towards Bass Pro Boulevard.
4:15 p.m. on Thursday, May 11
DSPD officers responded to 2358 S. Range Avenue — the area of the 4:15 p.m. incident — after receiving a call “of a male and female arguing in the parking lot of the Petco.”
The male suspect began shouting at the woman, who later stated she did not know the suspect. The woman reportedly responded to the suspect by threatening to call the police.
The woman then got in her vehicle and the male suspect began following her through the parking lot while in his vehicle, “a gold Jeep Cherokee,” matching the vehicle in the other two incidents.
4:22 p.m. on Thursday, May 11
Cpl. Shawn Kelly and a trainee arrived on scene in reference to the 911 call. After exiting their vehicle, the male subject, later identified as Roberts, “fired upon them through his driver's side window while still seated in his vehicle,” the report says.
Kelly was struck multiple times.
Roberts then drove across the parking lot in the direction of the Raising Cane’s restaurant. But within seconds, he turned his vehicle around and drove back toward the DSPD officers, “where he fired upon them once again,” according to the report.
The DSPD trainee returned fire before Roberts fled the scene. Roberts was not injured, but his vehicle was struck.
4:29 p.m. on Thursday, May 11
A uniformed Livingston Parish sheriff’s deputy was traveling northbound in the 400-block of Eugene Street (Denham Springs) “when he spotted the suspect vehicle stopped in the roadway,” according to the report.
Roberts was outside of the vehicle “armed with a rifle” that he was pointing at the deputy, the report says.
“The LPSO Deputy quickly stopped and exited his vehicle and fired several times upon Roberts, striking him in the head and causing him to become incapacitated,” detectives said in the EBRSO report.
The findings end by saying Roberts was transported to an area hospital where he later died from his injuries.
