Dozens of law enforcement officers and others lined up at Lady of the Lake Hospital on Friday morning for a blood drive for Cpl. Shawn Kelly, the Denham Springs officer who was gravely wounded Thursday afternoon in a shooting at a busy shopping center.
“We’re all here to support Shawn,” said Sgt. Scott Sterling. “He was the type of guy who was always willing to help.”
Kelly is an officer on the traffic division, but Sterling said he always wanted to be involved in other calls and lend a hand when he could.
“He wasn’t even dispatched to the scene yesterday, but he jumped in to help because the other guys were busy,” Sterling said. “Normally traffic just responds to tickets and things like that, so this really defines who he is.”
A Denham Springs police officer was “fighting for his life” at an area hospital Friday morning after he was shot while responding to a call ab…
Sydney McCullough, 28, is a coworker of Kelly’s. She wiped away tears in line to give blood while laughing about how she calls him the the “old man of the group.”
“A 50-year-old cop! He always made everybody laugh. He’s just a heck of a guy, cop, friend,” McCullough said.
Not everybody knew Kelly. Rikki Choate got a text message saying Lady of the Lake needed blood, and as a new resident of Denham Springs she felt it was something she could do to help.
Sabrina Simms, an endoscopic specialist at the hospital, stood in line to give blood while on a break from work.
“We’re all here to help as it is,” she said. “And I support the police.”
Denham Springs police officers stand watch at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital, where a blood drive for wounded Cpl. Shawn Kelly was held. Kelly was in critical condition after he was shot at a shopping center on Thursday.
Police initially responded to calls about an argument between a man and a woman in the parking lot outside Petco, law enforcement officials have said. Once officers arrived, the suspect, identified by authorities as 30-year-old Justin Roberts of Denham Springs, began to fire at them, striking one officer multiple times, officials said.
Roberts attempted to flee the scene toward Highway 190 but was quickly stopped by Livingston Parish Sheriff’s deputies, who shot him, the sheriff said. LPSO spokeswoman Lori Steele said Roberts had approached deputies while brandishing a gun when he was shot.
Roberts was rushed to a hospital in critical condition but died of his injuries a few hours later, the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office said.
Chrislyn Maher, marketing director for the hospital, said people can continue to give blood throughout the weekend at the Lady of the Lake Blood Center on the first floor of the hospital. The hospital also plans to set up community drives this weekend, and will post locations and times on its Facebook page.
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