The Louisiana State Police are investigating the death of Trayford Pellerin, a 31-year-old Black man who was fatally shot 11 times Friday night after an encounter with officers from the Lafayette police department.
What We Know:
- Shortly after 8 p.m. on Friday, Lafayette officers were called to a convenience store to respond to a “disturbance involving a person armed with a knife”. According to a statement from the Louisana State Police, officers found Pellerin in the store’s parking lot with a knife and when officers tried to apprehend him, Pellerin left, with officers following on foot. The police used tasers as they pursued him but, according to the statement, “they were ineffective”. The officers shot Pellerin 11 times at close range as he tried to enter another convenience store along NW Evangeline Thruway. He was then taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
- Part of the police pursuit and shooting was captured on video by a woman who witnessed the incident while inside her car near the second convenience store. The recording was posted to social media and quickly went viral. Throughout the video, which shows a Black man wearing a white T-shirt and long pants being pursued by police, the voice of the woman recording can be heard throughout. “We gotta witness this,” she says. “That man’s got a knife. They’re going to shoot him,” the woman says as she continues filming. She exclaims as the officers surround Pellerin and tase him. Shortly afterward, a flurry of gunshots can be heard. “Oh my God, they just shot this man. They literally just killed this man in front of me,” says the woman.
- At a joint news conference with state police, Lafayette’s interim police chief, Scott Morgan said that his department could not comment on specifics about the incident at this time. Morgan shared that his department turned the matter over to state police in order to have an independent investigation of the shooting. State police said no officers were injured and that the investigation is “active and ongoing”. The officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave until the conclusion of the investigation.
- Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump is among the lawyers representing Pellerin’s family. Crump called for the officers involved to be fired, saying that “the family, and the people of Lafayette, deserve honesty and accountability from those who are sworn to protect them”. Crump also reacted to the news of Pellerin’s encounter with the police on Twitter, tweeting, “He reportedly had a knife and was walking away from police, but didn’t deserve to die — they acted as judge jury and executioner. We demand JUSTICE and ANSWERS. #BlackLivesMatter.”
- Pellerin’s death comes after a summer of nationwide outrage and protests over police brutality and racial injustice following the police killings of Black people across the country including George Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor in Lousiville, Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta, and most recently, Jacob Blake in Kenosha. His death has sparked protests across Louisanna.
Our deepest condolences go out to loved ones of Trayford Pellerin and the Lafayette community. There have been no further updates on the investigation at this time.
