New Orleans is in mourning after a member of the police force was shot and killed on a routine patrol in the city’s east side.
The officer has been identified as 29-year-old Marcus McNeil.
He was allegedly killed by Darren Bridges, 30, a convicted felon who was out on parole after being sentenced to six and a half years in prison in 2012 for attempted possession of a firearm by a felon.
Bridges had previous battery and marijuana convictions, all in New Orleans.
Officer Marcus McNeil was fatally shot on Friday after being ambushed as he and his patrol team stepped out of their car to investigate something suspicious shortly after midnight in New Orleans
McNeil was among four officers patrolling together in two cars. The New Orleans police chief says they saw something suspicious and got out to investigate, and McNeil was shot.
‘After reviewing some of the video and without getting into too much of the evidence – what we know is there was an encounter,’ New Orleans Police Superintendent Michael Harrison said at an afternoon news conference. ‘There was a struggle. At some point, that subject fired at our officer.’
Police have said Bridges shot McNeil several times, and one or more officers fired back, hitting Bridges.
Bridges hid in an apartment building but surrendered after negotiations, and is hospitalized under arrest. He will be charged with first-degree murder.
McNeil (front center) was described by his friends and coworkers as a ‘jewel’ and said he could make anything positive
From left, New Orleans Police Superintendent Michael Harrison talks to the media, as Mayor Mitch Landrieu and 7th District Commander Lawrence Dupree, right, listen outside University Medical Center, early Friday, October 13, 2017 in New Orleans
McNeil, a married father of two, was a 2010 graduate in accounting from Dillard University. He joined NOPD in 2014 as a recruit and his police recruit class graduated in April 2015.
He leaves behind a wife named Brittiny and two children, aged 5 and 2.
Before he joined the police force, McNeil worked at the Children’s Defense Fund in New Orleans from 2006 to 2011, teaching young children how to read.
‘He was fondly called by all of his students ‘Mr. Marcus,’ and was a joy to be with,’ said Mary Joseph, the former director of the non-profit organization, to The Advocate. ‘A jewel is gone.’
Emergency personnel respond to the scene of a shooting near the Cypress Parc Apartments in New Orleans
A suspect in the shooting of a New Orleans Police officer leaves in an ambulance near the Cypress Parc Apartments in New Orleans
‘We are all grieving,’ Harrison said at a 3.30am press conference on Friday. ‘Our department is grieving, our city is grieving and this family is grieving so we ask the city to pray for us and keep us in our thoughts and prayers.’
His partner Denzel Million took to Facebook to mourn McNeil.
This isn’t real life, I thank you for all the memories we’ve accumulated,’ Million wrote. ‘In the academy we stood next to each other in formation, in class I sat behind you, after graduation we was assigned to the 7th District. Worked hand in hand on the day watch together, then was moved to power watch as partners.’
‘I’m going to miss you.’
‘Anything we said, he would turn it into something funny,’ said Jasmi Brown, a year behind McNeil in the accounting class and now a fifth-grade teacher in Stafford, Texas. ‘Even if someone was a little down about something, he always found a way to turn it into something positive, something funny, and make everybody laugh.’
Police respond to the scene of a shooting early Friday after officer Marcus McNeil was killed