The man accused in Tuesday morning’s shooting death of 27-year-old Deputy U.S. Marshal Josie Wells in Baton Rouge, Louisiana died Wednesday morning from a gunshot wound sustained during his arrest. Jamie Croom, a multiple convicted felon already on probation for firearms charges, was considered the most wanted man in Pointe Coupee Parish. The U.S. Attorney’s Office had filed charges on Croom Tuesday evening in relation to the shooting of Deputy Wells.
Croom’s sister said that her brother refused to go back to jail, even if it meant dying at the hands of law enforcement officers, according to a report in The Advocate.
The alleged shooting occurred Tuesday morning outside the Elm Grove Motel near Scotlandville, Louisiana after a U.S. Marshals Task Force teamed with Pointe Coupee Parish Sheriff’s Deputies to assist in the arrest of a fugitive, according to documents obtained by Breitbart Texas. Jamie Croom, who was wanted for a double murder that occurred in Pointe Coupee Parish on February 17, was accused of shooting and wounding Deputy U.S. Marshal Josie Wells. A wounded Wells was rushed to Lane Regional Medical Center in a police cruiser, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
ATF Agent Mike Parten and his family honor Deputy U.S. Marshal Josie Wells as his body is transported. PHOTO BY: JOHN FTIZHUGH/AP
Drew Wade, with U.S. Marshal Service Public Affairs said alleged shooter Jamie Croom was shot and wounded by another member of the task force and was taken to Lady of Lake Regional Medical Center. He died from his wound on Wednesday morning. Croom’s injury was sustained when Marshall’s deputies returned fire while they were trying to arrest him.
“Our deputies and law enforcement partners face untold dangers every day in the pursuit of justice in cities nationwide,” Stacia A. Hylton, director of the U.S. Marshals Service, said in a prepared statement. “The fugitive who killed Deputy Wells was extremely dangerous, wanted for double homicide and intentionally evaded justice.”
According to the Marshals Service, the FBI and Baton Rouge Police Department will lead the investigation. Wells joined the Marshal’s service in 2011.
The Advocate reported the following events surrounding the shooting death of Deputy Wells and the subsequent death of Croom:
Don Coppola Jr., a Baton Rouge police spokesman, said Croom was inside a structure at the motel when the shooting occurred.
“It was surrounded,” Coppola said. “So if he would’ve tried to get out through the front or back, he would’ve been confronted by law enforcement.”
Authorities would not say on Wednesday how many law enforcement officers were at the motel when an attempt was made to capture Croom, a convicted felon wanted in the slayings of Lechelle Rita Williams, 42, and Sinica Lee Williams, 38, which occurred less than a month ago outside a nightclub in New Roads.
More information about the shooting and surrounding events can be found in The Advocate’s article.
Bob Price contributed to this article. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
Follow Tami Nantz on Twitter @TamiNantz
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