[StBernard] Custody dispute leads to shooting

[Westley Annis]

Custody dispute leads to shooting
Suspect puts a gun to his head and fires 
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
By Trymaine Lee
Staff writer 

A child custody dispute in St. Bernard Parish unfurled into a two-mile car
chase and shooting Sunday evening, with a man shooting his ex-girlfriend's
mother in the head before raising the pistol to his right temple and pulling
the trigger, police in St. Bernard said. 

Both were in critical condition Monday afternoon, police said. 

Major John Doran said the shooting erupted moments after Janet Brunet, 45,
of Houma, her husband, a grown daughter and an unidentified child arrived at
the Gnell Drive home of Lionel Kieff, 36, to pick up a child Kieff and her
daughter apparently had together. 

Detectives said the child was handed over to the mother and grandparents
about 5 p.m., at which time Kieff went inside his home, retrieved a pistol
and emerged from the front door blasting. 

The Brunets sped off and Kieff chased them, police said. The two cars sped
west on Bayou Road and then east on St. Bernard Highway, with Kieff
continuing to fire at the Brunets and his young child. 

"This guy was reckless," Doran said. "The guy was basically a loose cannon
and I think at that point the public was in a lot of danger. In that state
of mind, firing shots, no telling what could have happened." 

Brunet was shot once in the head as Kieff's car rumbled down the highway,
ramming into at least two other vehicles as he stayed tightly on Brunet's
tail. 

At one point, Doran said, Brunet's husband, who was driving at the time,
tried to pull off on Poydras but Kieff pulled alongside the car and squeezed
off several more rounds at their packed vehicle. 

"He was hell-bent," Doran said. 

About a mile and a half into the chase, police entered the fray. 

And Kieff immediately went on the offensive, shooting at police as they
trailed him. Deputies held their fire out of regard for the public's safety,
Doran said. 

"The wild chase and shooting spree," as Doran called it, eventually ended in
the 6000 block of East St. Bernard Highway in Violet. 

Kieff was surrounded by deputies. After firing several gunshots at deputies
and deputies returning fire, Doran said Kieff raised his weapon to his head
and pulled the trigger. 

In the course of the shoot-out, investigators said Kieff also sustained a
gunshot wound to the shoulder. Police are trying to determine whether the
wound was self-inflicted or suffered at the hands of deputies. 

Officials at West Jefferson Hospital in Marrero reported to police that
Brunet was in critical condition Monday. Officials at Charity/Elmwood
Hospital in Jefferson Parish reported to police that Kieff was also in
critical condition. 

An investigation into the incident is ongoing. 

Police said it was not the first time Kieff was involved in a dispute with
an ex-girlfriend that turned violent. 

Police said about five years ago, Kieff got into a dispute with another
former girlfriend that led him to a failed suicide attempt. In that episode,
Kieff placed a gun under his chin and fired. 

"Kieff is truly a threat," Doran said. "A menace to society." 

. . . . . . . 

Trymaine Lee can be reached at tlee at timespicayune.com or at (504) 826-3301.