INDEPENDENCE, La. (AP) — Louisiana authorities identified a man who was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy while serving an arrest warrant on Monday.
The man was 47-year-old Antonio Nichols, a St. Helena Sheriff’s Office spokesman told news outlets. St. Helena deputies arrived to a home Monday night on a warrant for oral sexual battery of a juvenile when a man answered the door with a gun in his hand, Chief of Operations Joe Chaney said. The suspect refused to drop the weapon, he added.
Deputies fired their weapons twice, but it’s unclear if Nichols fired his gun, Chaney said. He died at a hospital from his injuries.
Relatives told The Advocate that they don’t believe Nichols was armed when he was killed, although they confirmed he owned a gun. Sandrell Burton, Nichols’ sister-in-law, told the newspaper deputies initially said Nichols had been shot in the arm and was in stable condition. Burton said a doctor then told Nichols’ mother her son was deceased and that he would “prefer she not see him, because he was riddled with bullets.”
No deputies were injured, Chaney said. State Police are investigating, and the sheriff’s office didn’t say if the deputies involved were placed on leave.
