A Jefferson Parish Sheriff Deputy shot and killed a 17 year-old robber after the robber’s gun malfunctioned, saving the Deputy’s life Tuesday night.
Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand called his Deputy, Dave Dalton “one of the luckiest men in America” after the robber’s gun malfunctioned. In a press conference on Wednesday, Normand said that his deputy easily could have been killed by 17 year-old Devon Martes if the weapon did not mis-fire.
Normand managed to get off six shots at Martes, killing him, where he was pronounced dead at the scene. On his person, they also found marijuana.
The Sheriff’s office said that dispatchers responded to several phone calls around 11:45 pm saying that there were two people rolling tires down the street at a car storage lot in Metaire.
According to Normand, deputies closed in on the area and Dalton spotted Martes. Martes hopped a fence and made his way to a newspaper warehouse. Martes made an attempt to hide in the warehouse, but one of the deputies found him in the warehouse. Surveillance cameras managed to catch the confrontation on video.
The video, which is grainy and blurry shows the Deputy and the suspect coming face to face with one another. The video shows Martes raising what appears to be a gun at the deputy until the Deputy raises his own gun at Martes. Martes can then be seen falling to the ground. Normand said that Dalton fired six shots at Martes.
“But for the fact that the gun malfunctioned, I might have a dead Officer,” Normand said.
Norman added that Martes was armed with a 9mm handgun with 22 rounds in an extended clip.
Normand said that Martes already had a criminal history and had several social media postings boasting guns and drugs.
He added that Devon Martes was not the victim in the case.
“The victim in this case is Dave Dalton. The victim in this case is the owner of the vehicle inventory lot that lost the two tires,” Normand said at the press conference.
The second suspect in the case is still at large according to the Sheriff’s office.
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