The crashed Baton Rouge Police Department helicopter and bodies of two officers were discovered Sunday morning by law enforcement only after a family member of one of the victims called to request a search roughly eight hours after the incident occurred, according to the West Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff’s deputies searched a rural area between North Winterville Road and Bueche Road after receiving the call at 10:48 a.m. and discovered the crashed helicopter and two deceased officers, according to a news release from the West Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office. Soon after discovering the crash, BRPD was notified by the sheriff’s office, according to the release.
Sgt. David Poirrier, 47, and Cpl. Scotty Canezaro, 38, were killed when the helicopter they were piloting in pursuit of a suspect crashed at 2:36 a.m. Sunday, according to BRPD and the Federal Aviation Administration.
BRPD spokesman L’Jean McKneely Jr. acknowledged the delay Monday evening and said BRPD is investigating why it occurred.
“That’s all part of the investigation,” McKneely said. “We’re working with the Baton Rouge airport, the FAA, we’re checking different things out to see why there was such a lapse in time.”
Poirrier was a 17-year BRPD veteran who was assigned to the Air Support Unit. Canezaro was a 16-year BRPD veteran who was also assigned to the Air Support Unit.
“The public is asked to continue to lift the families and loved ones of our fallen officers up in prayer during this very difficult time,” BRPD wrote in a statement Monday.
Poirrier and Canezaro were selected as BRPD’s officers of the month in October 2019, according to a BRPD Facebook post. The two men were licensed helicopter pilots and trained tactical flight officers who played “a major role in capturing fleeing suspects during active pursuits,” according to the post, which lauded the men as excellent representatives of BRPD’s mission and values.
“We lost two very good pilots, two very good police officers and two very good individuals,” Bill Profita, spokesman for the Baton Rouge Union of Police, said Monday night. “The men and women who do this, they fly under all sorts of circumstances. … It’s inherently dangerous, but when the bell rings, they answer. This time, unfortunately, there was a tragedy, and it’s very hard for everyone to accept and to comprehend.”
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