GRETNA, La. — A Jefferson Parish deputy was wounded and two men are dead after a shooting Wednesday night in Gretna.
According to Sheriff Joseph Lopinto, the shooting happened around 10:22 p.m. outside an IHOP in the 100 block of the Westbank Expressway near Terry Parkway.
Lopinto said detectives were conducting an undercover drug purchase in the parking lot when a driver put his vehicle in reverse, striking a deputy and ramming a JPSO car. Detectives shot at the suspect's car, striking the driver and a man sitting in a passenger seat.
The JPSO reports that the driver, later identified as 38-year-old Chris Joseph, died at the scene. The passenger, 39-year-old Daviri Robertson was taken to University Medical Center where he later died.
One detective was struck by gunfire. He was also taken to University Medical Center and underwent surgery overnight. He is listed in stable condition and is expected to fully recover.
Some family members of the two men who were killed said they were seeking answers as to the reasons and necessity for fatally shooting the two men.
"Regardless of what you're doing, there's a way that the law should be handled as far as resolving and getting the information you need when you're pursuing some type of crime," said Cheryl Strickland, Joseph's mother-in-law.
"I don't know why he was shot at, why he was chased down," said Darrelyn Smith, Robertson's girlfriend. "We want justice. That's it."