Video captured on a New Orleans Police Department car’s dash camera shows an Aug. 21 gun battle in the 7th Ward between a suspect and two NOPD officers that ended in the suspect’s death after a self-inflicted gunshot.
When the video starts, the officer driving north on Law Street in the car that captures the dash-cam video can be heard yelling, presumably into his police radio, “Allen and Law, Allen and Law,” which is the intersection where an initial encounter in what police described as a “rolling gun battle” occurred.
The shooting between NOPD officers and Porche unfolds as the car with the dash cam stops on Law Street, just before the intersection with New Orleans Street.
After the man wearing gray in the video who police identified as Porche falls to the ground — face down — the sound of gunfire stops for approximately 5 seconds. Porsche can be seen from the dash cam footage moving his upper body before a final gunshot is heard.
NOPD Force Investigation Team Investigator Travis Ward said investigators believe a total of approximately 15 shots were fired by two NOPD officers in the video that was released. One of the officers, who fired from a rifle, is seen standing in the middle of the street. The other officer who fired his gun is the one who drove the car that recorded the dash-cam video, Ward said.
Ward said investigators believe Porche fired approximately 10 shots from a black 9-millimeter handgun with an extended Magazine during the encounter shown on video.
Police said the shootouts happened after State Police chased a stolen car occupied by three men into the neighborhood. NOPD responded to the scene after the three suspects bailed out of the car and opened fire.
A State Police trooper was shot by Porche prior to the last and fatal encounter, authorities said. The unnamed trooper was struck in the elbow and released from the hospital that night. The trooper is doing well but still healing, said agency spokesman Maj. Doug Cain Friday, adding, “He’s anxious to get back to work.”
Two other suspects who were with Porche are still at large. One of the surviving suspects also fired at police.
A handgun with an extended magazine police said Porche used on himself and the trooper, as well as a rifle officers recovered from the stolen car, were laid on a table Friday in front of the lectern where Harrison and Cain spoke. Harrison said that day’s incident demonstrated the kind of suspects — perpetrators with “enhanced firepower” — the officers face on a daily basis. Still, he said, “we will continue to run toward danger.”
Two other law enforcement officers, a state trooper and another NOPD officer, are also seen in the video. Ward said neither of them fired their weapons during that encounter. He said NOPD officers were in that area at the time of the shootout with Porche to set up a perimeter after responding to the initial report of troopers being fired upon. Patrol officers and a SWAT team guarded the multiblock perimeter — after Porche’s death — for hours while they searched unsuccessfully for two remaining suspects.
I love it when the bad guy goes down. Not all black lives matter.