We now have a better understanding of what happened on Sunday evening at a Big Boy convenience store in Lafayette which resulted in one local police officer being shot to death.

A recount by witness Avery Cross of Lafayette begins when he showed up at the 24-hour store late Sunday, only to find it locked. He said an employee came to the door and told him a cashier had been shot.

Apparently, people didn't realize the alleged 28-year-old gunman Ian Paul Howard was still in the store after he had shot a cashier.

Cross says that two officers showed up and one went inside. That's when the gunman "popped out and started shooting."

The witness says he heard at least five shots, then the gunman came and fired into the air, yelling for people to back up.

Howard was arrested on several charges, including murder of Lafayette Police Corporal Michael Paul Middlebrook.

The slain officer was a nine-year patrol veteran who leaves behind a wife, their 3-year-old daughter and two stepdaughters.

The father of the accused gunman was reached by phone for comment. Edwin Howard said "the family is in deepest shock" and offer its deepest sympathy to the officer's family.

He would go on to say, "The Howard family would like to extend deepest sympathy to the family of Cpl. Michael Middlebrook and their friends and everyone on the force, and they'll be in our prayers."

 

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