Gunman barricaded in cop car outside Terrebonne jail

An armed man barricaded himself inside a Houma City Police car Thursday morning on Grand Caillou Road outside of the Terrebonne Parish jail, after firing two shots and causing the officer driving him to the Terrebonne Parish jail to exit the vehicle, according to preliminary but unofficial reports from law enforcement officials.

 

The officer was not injured during the incident, which has resulted in the man, who has not yet been identified, remaining inside the police car as a negotiator tries to talk him into surrendering peacefully. 

Law enforcement officials said the incident began around 3 a.m. Thursday when an arrest was made on Prince Collins Street in Houma. During the attempt to arrest the man a police officer used a Taser, and per protocol he was brought to Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center for examination. A preliminary account from a ranking law enforcement official maintains that the handcuffed man was then transported for booking to the jail on Grand Caillou Road. But as the officer neared the jail compound a gun was produced and two shots were fired inside the car, shattering at least one window.

 

The officer, who immediately left the vehicle, was uninjured. 

 

Reinforcements were called and a negotiator began communications. An account from a law enforcement official said the man could not exit the car on his own because it is equipped with a cage between the front and the back and door locks that he cannot open.

 

Police have been trying to convince the man to throw his gun out the window so that he can be safely removed by officers. Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s deputies, Louisiana State Police and City Police are at the scene.