NEW ORLEANS — The officer killed Friday night during a basketball game at George Washington Carver High School has been identified as a Tulane Police officer and a part-time Second City Court deputy constable.
Multiple sources tell WWL-TV that 38-year-old Martinus M. Mitchum was shot to death while acting as private security at the game. After a man -- identified by police as 35-year-old John Shallerhorn -- got into an argument with a school staff member, Mitchum intervened and tried to escort Shallerhorn off the property.
That’s when, police say, Shallerhorn opened fire, striking Mitchum twice. He was pronounced dead at University Medical Center later Friday night.
According to a report from The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate, he had worked previously at Landry-Walker High School in Algiers and John F. Kennedy High School, as well as the Loyola University Police Department.
He graduated from the Slidell Police Department's basic reserve police academy in 2014, Slidell police confirmed on Facebook.
Mitchum was active on social media, often commenting on law enforcement and political news, as well as showing solidarity with other people of color in law enforcement.
An immense outpouring of grief filled the social platforms Mitchum frequented, with many expressing shock or disbelief at the killing of “Mitch.”
Charles Carmouche, a local high school basketball standout who went on to play at the college level for UNO, LSU and University of Memphis, mourned the loss publicly on Twitter, calling Mitchum a “genuine, kind-hearted dude” who believed in him growing up.
“We really lost a great dude,” Carmouche wrote.
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