Alfred Stewart
May 25, 2007Yvonne Knudsen- Smith
June 1, 2007
Lafourche Parish officials were unable to determine whether a bullet fired from a Galliano man’s 357-caliber Magnum pistol, or a shot by a Lafourche Parish deputy, killed the man’s infant son following an exchange of gunfire in a trailer in Galliano last Wednesday afternoon.
An autopsy performed on the infant did not indicate whose bullet killed the seven-month-old baby, Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre said.
The infant was discovered on the federally-issued trailer’s floor covered in sheets, according to an Associated Press report.
Albert Dodge, 39, the baby’s father, fired the pistol from point-blank range at Lafourche Parish Deputy Ben Dempster after Dempster, and fellow Deputy Jude Cantrelle, responded to an aggravated battery complaint at 213 West 136th St. in Galliano. Dodge was killed in the gunfire exchange.
Dempster entered the mobile home around 1:10 p.m. after receiving “a complaint of an aggravated battery with a fire extinguisher,” according to a news release. The deputies had a report of someone being “beaten up pretty badly by a fire extinguisher, but they didn’t know who he was,” said Larry Weidel, sheriff’s office spokesman. “They only had a description of the vehicle.”
The deputies found the vehicle at the Galliano address, and approached the mobile home “checking to see if the owner of the vehicle was there,” Weidel said. “They were not going into the trailer to look for anybody.”
Dempster “went into the trailer asking if the owner was in,” he said. “He didn’t know who they were looking for.”
Following standard procedure, Cantrelle stood outside at the back door of the mobile home, Weidel said.
Dodge who lived in the trailer, “came out of the bedroom firing,” he said.
Weidel said the mobile home is “a FEMA type of trailer,” and that the area around the bedroom “could be open” space.
“Dempster returned fire as he backed out of the trailer,” the release states. After Dempster was hit, it states, “Cantrelle…came around to the aid of the fallen officer.”
The release states that “Deputy Dempster was taken to Lady of the Sea Hospital in Galliano, where he reportedly suffered a severe bruise to his upper right chest area. The bullet-proof vest he was wearing saved his life.”
“No bullet penetrated” Dempster’s body, Weidel said.
“In the gunfire that took place,” Dodge “was killed as was his infant son, Typhoon,” the release states.
“Albert Dodge had an extensive criminal history, including an outstanding warrant for Contempt of Court and many previous arrests with charges ranging from felony theft to manslaughter to domestic abuse battery,” it states.
Weidel said, “This is speculation. Because it’s a shooting involving one of our officers, State Police has a shoot team to investigate” at the trailer to investigate the killing.
“Nothing could have changed the outcome,” Webre said. “Mr. Dodge created the situation that led to his own death and his child’s death.”
During the gunfire exchange, Dodge’s girlfriend, and their 18-month-old daughter, Tsunami, were at the trailer. Both were not wounded.
Louisiana State Police are investigating the incident because an officer was involved in the shooting, according to the Associated Press report.
