Two recent shootings by law enforcement officers, one fatal, will not be presented to a Rapides Parish grand jury, according to District Attorney Phillip Terrell.
The shootings involved the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Alexandria Police Department, and both happened in November 2022.
Derrick Kittling, 45, was shot during a scuffle with a deputy on Nov. 6, 2022, after a traffic stop near the Seventh Street and Broadway Avenue intersection.
The second shooting happened on Thanksgiving after a call about a man either running into traffic or lying on Rapides Avenue.
The Alexandria officer, identified as Christopher Hayward, was choked with his own baton during a fight with Jason Jamar Shackleford, 34. Hayward shot Shackleford in his left arm with one of five shots he fired during the confrontation.
In Kittling’s death, a letter delivered Thursday afternoon in Sheriff Mark Wood said video “showed that Kittling’s initial noncompliance escalated into a physical fight with Deputy (Rodney) Anderson.”
It goes on to state Anderson’s life and well-being were threatened.
“After a comprehensive review, the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that the actions of Deputy Anderson were justified,” it reads. “Anderson wa placed in reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm by the acts of Kittling.”
Terrell wrote no criminal responsibility on Anderson’s part could be found so there was no probable cause, and nothing to present to a grand jury.
“Deputy Anderson was in circumstances where use of deadly force was legally justified.”
Terrell’s letter regarding the Shackleford shooting says much the same, ruling that Hayward “was placed in reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm by the acts of Shackleford.”
The officer acted in self-defense, it reads.
Shackleford was arrested after his release from an Alexandria hospital, serving time on a parole violation. He is set to be arraigned on a charge of attempted first-degree murder of a police officer on April 12.