On a mid‑June Friday before dawn in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, 40‑year‑old Captain Octavio ’Ox’ Gonzalez of the Sheriff’s Office was leading a manhunt after two suspects had just shot and wounded a deputy during a narcotics stop on U.S. Highway 51. While canvassing the Spring Meadow Subdivision in LaPlace at about 1:20 a.m., Gonzalez stopped to assist a woman who appeared to be a stranded motorist. That encounter proved to be a lure. As he was contacting dispatch, a male suspect ambushed him and fired three shots into his back and side, killing the veteran officer.

After the shooting the male and female suspects took Gonzalez’s service weapon and vehicle and fled into a nearby residential area, where they forced their way into a home and held three people hostage, including an elderly woman and a young boy. A standoff followed and the male shooter ultimately surrendered. The two suspects were later convicted and received lengthy prison terms.