The Lafayette police officers involved in a shooting last week are expected to return to duty in the next few days.
The Department’s Shooting Review Board ruled they were justified in firing shots at a homeless man who killed his employer and eventually took his own life.
Chief Deputy Payne says the way the officers handled the high-pressure situation points to the training and prep work done for these types of incidents.
"If you think about this situation, the short timeline, the unexpectedness of what happened, I was pretty impressed," he said.
Chief Patrick Flannelly says the incident has weighed heavy not only on the officers involved, but the entire department.
“Investigations like this are very challenging on a lot of different levels," said Flannelly. "It's a tragedy and there are really no good outcomes to things like this.”
He says the officers’ actions were “exemplary” and they handle the situation well.
Steven Mosley was hired by Joel Hershman to do some painting work at his business. Mosley shot Hershman in the parking lot of a Lafayette restaurant and led police on a chase. He shot himself during the pursuit, which caused him to crash Hershman’s truck into a house. No one else was injured.
Flannelly says the motive is not yet known.