Denver A. Smith and Leonard Douglas Brown November 16, 1972
I ran across this article from last November. I remember the incident very well. East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's deputies were called to the Southern University campus because students were protesting outside the Administration building. The Deputies fired tear gas from shot guns and the crowd started running away. Two men fell dead. When all the gas clouds cleared, it was plain they ha been hit in the back by shot gun pellets.
No one stepped forward to admit they had loaded their gun with buckshot, so the FBI was called in to investigate. The report narrowed it down to three deputies, based on the approximate area from where the shots were fired. The names were never released, but about 20 years later, someone who knew the case details told me, none of the three were still working for the Sheriff's department.
It's entirely possible a Deputy pulled the trigger, without realizing he had a live shell in the chamber. That is the most charitable explanation. However it happened, one thing is certain, there is a tremendous difference in the kickback of a tear gas shell and a buckshot shell. The shooter knows what he did.
No charges were filed.
I ran across this article from last November. I remember the incident very well. East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's deputies were called to the Southern University campus because students were protesting outside the Administration building. The Deputies fired tear gas from shot guns and the crowd started running away. Two men fell dead. When all the gas clouds cleared, it was plain they ha been hit in the back by shot gun pellets.
No one stepped forward to admit they had loaded their gun with buckshot, so the FBI was called in to investigate. The report narrowed it down to three deputies, based on the approximate area from where the shots were fired. The names were never released, but about 20 years later, someone who knew the case details told me, none of the three were still working for the Sheriff's department.
It's entirely possible a Deputy pulled the trigger, without realizing he had a live shell in the chamber. That is the most charitable explanation. However it happened, one thing is certain, there is a tremendous difference in the kickback of a tear gas shell and a buckshot shell. The shooter knows what he did.
No charges were filed.