NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An officer working security at a high school basketball game in New Orleans has been fatally shot.

Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson told reporters that a man tried to enter the game Friday evening and got into an altercation with a staff member.

ABC13.com reports:

Initial reports from the scene indicated the shooter wasn't let inside because he wasn't wearing a face mask. Investigators were still working Saturday to find out what led to the shooting.

The officer went to intervene, and the man shot him in the chest.

The officer later died at a hospital.

The suspect was quickly arrested.

The basketball game was stopped and ultimately called off.

WWL-TV reports that the security officer has been identified as 38-year-old Martinus M. Mitchum. Police say 35-year-old John Shallerhorn got into an argument with staff at the school, and Mitchum intervened.

 

The officer was a deputy constable with the Second City Court and a Tulane University police officer.

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