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As St. Mary police and two families mourn the loss of loved ones, questions linger as to why a Charenton man went on a shooting spree Saturday in a quiet community near Cypress Bayou Casino.
Shortly before 10:30 a.m., Wilbert Thibodeaux, 48, shot his neighbor, 78-year-old Eddie Lyons, along Flat Town Road, and set a shed near Lyon’s mobile home ablaze, authorities said. The fire spread to the trailer, trapping Lyons inside, according to Louisiana State Police Trooper Stephen Hammons. Investigators later pulled Lyons’ remains from the mobile home after the fire was extinguished.
As Chitimacha Tribal Police Sgt. Rick Riggenbach, 52, arrived at the scene, Thibodeaux fired again, fatally striking the officer.
Thibodeaux continued firing multiple shots at St. Mary sheriff’s deputies who arrived to provide Riggenbach support, critically wounding deputies Jason Javier, 23, and Matthew Strickland, 24, Hammons said at a press conference Monday.
Hammons said Thibodeaux was shot in the gunfire exchange with the deputies. He was treated at a nearby hospital and released into State Police custody, the spokesman said.
Authorities seized the shotgun Thibodeaux used in the incident.
Thibodeaux is facing two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of arson. He is currently jailed at the Iberia Parish Jail.
Saturday’s final encounter with Thibodeaux wasn’t Riggenbach’s first run-in with the Charenton man. Last Tuesday – four days before the shooting – the sergeant arrested Thibodeaux on a disturbing the peace charge.
St. Mary Parish Sheriff Mark Hebert confirmed Monday Thibodeaux was released Thursday at 7 p.m. from the St. Mary Parish Jail in Centerville after posting bond.
Hebert would not elaborate on the arrest, saying the Louisiana State Police are leading the investigation into the weekend shootings.
Hammons said dispatchers initially received a call that a man with a shotgun was walking in the 10000 block of Flat Town Road. Chitimacha Police and St. Mary sheriff’s deputies responded to the call.
The three officers were struck by bullets before Thibodeaux surrendered to authorities, Hammons said. The spokesman said Lyons was likely shot before the fire was lit.
The State Fire Marshal is investigating the fire.
Riggenbach, who would have celebrated his 53rd birthday next month, was a U.S. Navy veteran. He served with the Chitimacha Police Department for four and one-half years, Tribal Police Chief Blaise Smith said. Prior to that, he served more than 10 years with the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Riggenbach is survived by a wife, a son and two daughters and two grandchildren.
“He died as a hero,” Smith said, choking back tears. “He died so others could live.”
Meanwhile, Hebert offered encouraging news Monday about the conditions of the St. Mary deputies.
“Both are expected to recover after sustaining gunshot wounds,” he said of Javiar and . “Both are doing well, and are in good spirits.
“I am asking for our community’s continued prayers for the fallen officer and his family and all of the law enforcement officers out there every day protecting our families,” the sheriff said.
Curley Lyons, the brother of Eddie Lyons, was among those in attendance at Monday’s joint press conference between the State Police, Chitimacha Police and the St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Office in Franklin.
After the press conference, he alleged Thibodeaux suffered from mental illness and was not taking prescribed medication at the time of the shooting.
“The man (Thibodeaux) is a schizophrenic,” Curley Lyons said. “Anyone who knows him knows that.
“I watched him grow up. He lived right next door to my brother all of his life,” he added. “He had been walking around for about a month without his medicine. He was walking around saying he was God, threatening people.”
Attempts to contact Thibodeaux’s family as to his mental state were unsuccessful as of press time.
Curley Lyons said neighbors expressed concern after Thibodeaux was released from jail Thursday. “They were going to stay in their houses because they were afraid,” he said.
Booking reports at the St. Mary jail in Centerville show that Chitimacha Police arrested Thibodeaux on Jan. 22, and transferred him to St. Mary Parish’s custody shortly after 11 a.m. Reports indicate he was released at 7 p.m. Jan. 24.
“Why did they release that guy?” Curley Lyons asked. “All of this could have been avoided.
“He set fire to that building next to my brother’s trailer,” he continued. “The fire burned for so long, it eventually caught my brother’s trailer (on fire).”
As the Lyons family prepares for a funeral, Curley Lyons said Saturday’s shooting spree was “a failure of the system.”
“No one ever took care of (Thibodeaux) and made sure he got what he needed,” he said. “Thibodeaux was a mild-mannered individual when he was on his medicine, so I do not have any animosity toward him for killing my brother. He was sick.
“At the jail, they let him go because they didn’t have anything to hold him on, instead of turning him over to mental health professionals,” Curley Lyons said. “This was just a bad situation all the way around.”
Chitimacha Tribal Police Chief Blaise Smith displays a photograph of Sgt. Rick Riggenbach, 52, who was fatally shot Saturday by Wilbert Thibodeaux, 48, of Charenton, a man whom the sergeant had arrested just days before the deadly encounter.
