On January 26, 2013, Sergeant Frederick Albert Riggenbach, 52, of the Chitimacha Tribal Police Department was shot and killed while responding to reports of a mobile home fire and an armed man on Flatown Road near the Cypress Bayou Casino in Charenton, Louisiana. Riggenbach was the first officer to arrive; two St. Mary Parish sheriff’s deputies, Jason Javier and Matthew Strickland, arrived moments later and were critically wounded by gunfire. The mobile home’s owner, 78-year-old Eddie Pink Lyons, was found dead inside after the fire was extinguished.

Authorities identified 48-year-old Wilbert Thibodeaux of Charenton as the suspect. Thibodeaux was wounded during the confrontation, taken into custody and later charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of arson. Reports say he had a history of mental illness and was eventually declared insane and committed in November 2014.

Riggenbach, a U.S. Navy veteran, had a 15-year law enforcement career that included more than a decade with the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office before joining the Chitimacha Police Department. He is survived by his wife, son and three daughters. Does anyone have memories of Sergeant Riggenbach or information about that day that could add context to what happened?