Teen who shot Terrebonne deputy sentenced

A Bourg teenager who shot and wounded a Terrebonne Parish sheriff’s deputy last year was sentenced last week to 45 years in prison.

Adrian Broussard, 18, faced a maximum of 50 years for attempted first-degree murder. Broussard admitted shooting Deputy Donald Bourg three times outside a Montegut post office the night of July 28, leaving the deputy critically injured.

Bourg, 36, survived but is still recovering from injuries that have kept him from returning to his job.

State District Judge Timothy Ellender handed down Broussard’s sentence Monday following testimony from his relatives, friends and teachers, who asked for leniency. Many described Broussard as a troubled teenager with a long history of impulsive behavior despite medicine and treatment in the school system.

Ellender, however, rejected testimony he said blamed institutions for Broussard’s actions. He compared it to complaints made against the federal government’s response to devastating hurricanes.

“Seems like we’ve come to depend on the government more and more,” he said. “In this case, it’s not the government or the school board’s fault. This is Adrian Broussard’s fault.”

Bourg was responding to reports of a suspicious person near the La. Highway 55 post office when he found Broussard. The teenager, who was carrying a pistol, shot the deputy then fled, setting off a massive search that lasted through the next morning, when Broussard emerged from a vacant house about a mile from the scene.

The teenager told a doctor during a mental evaluation that he shot Bourg out of fear of facing a gun charge.

“The audacity of this young person to shoot an officer on a relatively minor offense. Bang! And shoot him again. Bang!” Ellender said. “It’s just unthinkable.”

Broussard, who had no apparent reaction to his sentence, must serve the full term without parole, probation or suspension of sentence.

Mark Rhodes, assistant district attorney, urged Ellender to sentence him to the maximum because of Bourg’s injuries. Bullet shards remain in the deputy’s body and cause him to limp.

Bourg and his wife, Mary, were seated in court, but declined to testify.

“Words are insufficient to describe the pain Adrian Broussard caused,” Rhodes said in court.

Amanda Mustin, Broussard’s court-appointed attorney, said the sentence was too severe given what she considered the teenager’s apparent mental-health problems.

“It highlights the need for psychiatric help for the young people of the community,” she said.