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The officers were
attempting to serve an arrest warrant on the boy's father in the
central Louisiana community of Marksville, authorities said.
State police were still piecing together what led to Tuesday's
shooting and had reviewed footage captured on the officers' body
cameras, Colonel Michael Edmonson, superintendent of the
Louisiana State Police, said during a Friday press conference
announcing the arrests.
"As I told you, we took some of the body camera's footage,"
Edmonson said. "I'm not going to talk about it, but I'm going to
tell you this: It is the most disturbing thing I've seen. And
I'll leave it at that."
The officers, Lieutenant Derrick Stafford and Officer Norris
Greenhouse, were facing charges of second-degree murder and
attempted murder, he said.
They were working for the Marksville City Marshal when they
tried to serve an arrest warrant on a man identified as Chris
Few, authorities have said. Few fled in his vehicle, with his
young son, Jeremy Mardis, in the car, authorities said.
A preliminary investigation showed the marshals chased the
vehicle and fired at it multiple times when the pursuit ended.
It was unclear if the arrested officers had obtained attorneys
or how they would plead to the charges.
Two other officers were also under investigation in connection
with the shooting, local media reported.
Marksville's Ward 2 marshal, Floyd Voinche Sr., told news
station WBRZ the boy's death was tragic, and said the marshals
were acting on good authority when they tried to stop Few.
Louisiana law allowed his deputy marshals "to write traffic
tickets, make arrests and preserve the peace," he said.
(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere; Editing by Tom Hogue)
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