Cop shot dead while transporting suspect

Cop shot dead while transporting suspect

A suspect shot and killed a New Orleans police officer who was transporting him to jail on Saturday, prompting a massive manhunt, officials said.

It remained unclear how exactly officer Daryle Holloway, 45, was killed, but police said they were seeking Travis Boys (inset), the suspect who had been handcuffed when the police officer began driving, reported Reuters.

Mr Holloway, a 22-year New Orleans police veteran, was found with a gunshot wound in his department vehicle, a police statement said.

"According to the initial investigation, Boys shot Officer Holloway from within the vehicle during the transport. After the vehicle crashed, Boys fled the scene," the statement said.

Boys had been handcuffed with his hands behind his back, but was apparently double jointed in his shoulders and was able to get his arms to the front of his body, police superintendent Michael Harrison told a news conference.

It was unclear where Boys got the gun, but the officer's service weapon was not used and was still in its holster, Supt Harrison said.

Boys had been arrested on charges of aggravated battery and outstanding warrants and was being transported to central lockup at the Orleans Parish Prison when the shooting occurred.

New York Daily News reported that the death of Mr Holloway has left his family reeling a day after they had gone shopping for Father's Day.

"They're taking it pretty hard," his ex-wife Nicole Holloway said of their three teenage children.

"I took my youngest daughter shopping for Father's Day gifts yesterday. She had all these gifts waiting to give him tomorrow."

CRITICALLY WOUNDED

Meanwhile, Los Angeles police shot and critically wounded an unarmed man after he raised his towel-wrapped hand at officers who thought he was brandishing a gun, a department spokesman said on Saturday.

The man, in his 30s, "appeared to be in distress" on a busy street when police approached him on Friday.

As officers exited their patrol car, the man pointed a towel-wrapped hand at them, Reuters reported. Officers warned the man before firing, hitting him in the head.


This article was first published on June 22, 2015.
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