Police: Man who shot trooper told him he would ‘die soon’

This photo released by the Louisiana State Police shows Kevin Daigle, 54, of Lake Charles, La. A Louisiana state trooper was shot in the head and critically injured Sunday, Aug. 23, 2015, during a struggle with a man whose pickup truck had run into a ditch after being reported as driving erratically, Louisiana State Police said. Col. Michael Edmonson, head of state police, said the arrested man, Daigle, had a number of previous arrests, though he did not know details. He said he did not know all the charges that Daigle will face, but they will include attempted murder of a police officer. (Louisiana State Police via AP) This photo released by the Louisiana State Police shows Kevin Daigle, 54, of Lake Charles, La. A Louisiana state trooper was shot in the head and critically injured Sunday, Aug. 23, 2015, during a struggle with a man whose pickup truck had run into a ditch after being reported as driving erratically, Louisiana State Police said. Col. Michael Edmonson, head of state police, said the arrested man, Daigle, had a number of previous arrests, though he did not know details. He said he did not know all the charges that Daigle will face, but they will include attempted murder of a police officer. (Louisiana State Police via AP)

By Associated Press August 24, 2015 3 min read

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A man accused of shooting a state trooper with a sawed-off shotgun told him afterward, “You’re lucky – you’re going to die soon,” according to the head of Louisiana State Police.

Senior Trooper Steven Vincent, 43, was fighting for his life after being shot in the head by a man whose pickup truck was stuck sideways in a ditch, Col. Mike Edmonson said Sunday night. “His brain is not telling his body what to do,” Edmonson said.

Edmonson said Kevin Daigle, 54, of Lake Charles, was under arrest at a hospital where he was taken after other motorists saw the fallen policeman and wrestled Daigle to the ground.

Police video showed Vincent, a 13-year state police veteran in southwest Louisiana and member of a law enforcement family, very professionally trying to talk a man out of the vehicle stuck sideways in a ditch, Edmonson said during a news conference.

He said the truck door opened and Daigle came out with the shotgun.