[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish sheriff's deputy shoots, kills man this morning in domestic incident

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish sheriff's deputy shoots, kills man this morning in
domestic incident
By Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune 
November 13, 2009, 12:22PM
A St. Bernard Parish sheriff's deputy shot and killed a man on Lebeau Street
early this morning after the man arrived with a gun and pointed it at the
deputy, the Sheriff's Office says.


Sheriff Jack Stephens said the deputy, Cpl. Marco Spicuzza, responded to a
domestic complaint call after 1 a.m. from a woman who said her husband had
choked and slapped her. The husband left, but continued to make threatening
calls to the house, prompting the woman to call the Sheriff's Office.



The husband, Casey Dumas, continued to make threatening calls to the house,
even after the woman's daughter told him over the phone that the deputy had
arrived. Dumas continued to threaten over the phone, saying he was coming
over to burn the house down. 

Spicuzza heard Dumas arrive in a car out front, so he went into the front
yard. The deputy saw Dumas holding a gun in his hand, which Dumas then put
into his mouth.

According to a police report of the incident, Dumas approached the deputy in
an "aggressive manner" with the gun in his mouth and then pointed it at the
deputy. Spicuzza warned Dumas to drop his weapon, but he did not.

He then fired two shots at Dumas - hitting him in the shoulder and in the
chest. Dumas died on the scene.

Stephens said the Sheriff's Office is completing an investigation of the
incident, but he believes it was a case of suicide by police, where Dumas
came with the intent to die. The Sheriff's Office has not confirmed whether
Dumas ever fired shots at Spicuzza.

Spicuzza, a 12-year veteran in St. Bernard, has been placed on
administrative duty and will undergo a psychiatric evaluation, Stephens
said. Stephens has been sheriff since 1984, and said there has been only one
other case of a death involving a deputy