Posted on August 7, 2015

Police Say Suspect in Custody in Louisiana Officer’s Death

Janet McConnaughey and Bill Fuller, Associated Press, August 6, 2015

A man accused of killing a Shreveport police officer was arrested Thursday after a round-the-clock manhunt, police said.

Grover Cannon, 27, was in a backyard detached garage not far from the house where Officer Thomas LaValley was killed Wednesday when officers acting on a tip arrested him shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday, Shreveport police spokesman Cpl. Marcus Hines said.

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LaValley, 29, was shot multiple times about 9 p.m. Wednesday while answering a call about a suspicious person at a home in the city’s Queensborough neighborhood.

Grover Cannon and Patrick LaValley

Grover Cannon and Thomas LaValley

Shreveport Police Chief Willie Shaw said neighbors told the officer that the man inside the home was wanted. The officer didn’t know the man was armed, and he went inside and was shot, Shaw said.

Police already had a warrant for Cannon’s arrest on a charge of attempted second-degree murder in the shooting of Darren Williams on July 15.

“Long story short, he gets into an argument with one guy, pumps him full of led and runs off,” Hines said.

A four-year member of the force, LaValley began working as a lawman after more than three years as a television news photographer. Shaw described LaValley as the top graduate in his police academy class and a hero who will never be forgotten.

“He was doing what he loved,” Shaw said. “He did not hesitate to confront a bad person.”

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Police said a memorial service honoring LaValley will be held at 4 p.m. Friday at Summer Grove Baptist Church in Shreveport, with visitation afterward.