WEST BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Families across Baton Rouge are mourning the death of two officers killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday morning.
The vehicle landed in a rural area of Erwinville in West Baton Rouge, and some locals said they heard the crash.
One resident, Norris Cummings, says he’s lived near North Winterville Road for 40 years. He explained that he was sound asleep when he suddenly heard a “big bang” around 1:30 a.m
He believes the accident is related to a police pursuit unfolding along the freeway.
“The first thing I heard was a car speeding, it seemed like it was 190 and going west,” Cummings said. “As the bang went off, I got out of bed, grabbed my flashlight and paced up and down my driveway. I kind of knew it was in that area again, but I didn’t want to come out of my gate. ”
Authorities have not confirmed that a police pursuit was ongoing at the time of the crash.
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In any case, dozens of police vehicles and other first responders rushed to the crash site to help. Cummings says he saw a BRPD helicopter just yards from his home.
A few doors down, another resident spoke to BRProud about the wreck, Kaylum Shaffer.
According to Shaffer, this was the first time an incident of this magnitude had occurred in the area.
“I’ve never seen so many cops take that route,” Shaffer said. “Usually you only see two or three.”
Local couple Earl and Lawanda Wheeler said they had just gotten home from church when they found out what had happened and it shocked them.
“To think that something happened here in our community,” Wheeler said, “something like that happened.”
The couple told BRProud they have two sons who are officers with the Baker Police Department. They said they pray every day for their children to get home safely and it breaks their hearts to know that will not be the case for the families of the officers killed in Sunday’s crash.
“You never know, and this is just one of those sad occasions,” Lawanda Wheeler said, “that unfortunately we have two who won’t be returning home.”
Shortly after the fatal crash was announced, the mayor’s office released a statement, which is available for perusal below.
Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome’s statement in response to the BRPD’s fatal helicopter crash
Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul said the BRPD would not release the names of the fallen officers until their family members have been adequately notified.
He also asked that the community keep the department and the families of the officers in their prayers.
The incident is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Association.
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