1 dead in officer-involved shooting in Bossier City

BOSSIER CITY, LA (KSLA) - One person is dead following a shooting outside a Bossier City business Thursday evening that happened shortly after police arrived in response to an alarm there.

Officers are on the scene in the 2100 block of Airline Drive. City spokesman Mark Natale says officers were called just before 8 p.m. to the Payless store there in response to a silent alarm that had been activated.

Natale says that when officers arrived, they attempted to make contact with a man who fled from them. As the man reached the corner of the building, "he turned toward the officers, brandishing a weapon. There were shots fired."

Natale says the man was pronounced dead at the scene, but declined to confirm reports that it was an officer who fired the fatal shots. In addition to the criminal investigation, Natale says there will be an "extensive internal investigation" into what transpired, since officers were on the scene when the shooting happened.

One eyewitness described hearing a shot fired and turning to see an officer open fire and a man fall to the pavement just outside Bass Fine Jewelry next to Arby's.

"We heard what was a gunshot, followed there by about 3 or 4 more gunshots - rapid gunshots," recalls Charlie Cavell, who was in the parking lot of a restaurant across the street when it happened. "After the first shot, I kind of leaned to my right a little bit and that's when I saw the two Bossier City police officers, you know, standing over what I can only assume was some kind of suspect."

Cavell says he saw one of the officers become overwhelmed with emotion as other officers began to arrive at the scene.

Witnesses to the shooting are being interviewed by detectives.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

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