The Opelousas City Council went back and forth at Tuesday night's council meeting on whether to accept Probatotional Officer Savannah Butler's resignation and a $7,000 payout for unused annual paid leave.
Butler submitted her resignation earlier this month; she's been arrested and accused of shooting Police Chief Graig LeBlanc and his wife, St. Landry Parish Sheriff's deputy Crystal LeBlanc, in December. In the weeks following, Butler was booked with two counts of negligent injury, one count of obstruction of justice, and one count of illegal use of a weapon. LeBlanc was booked with obstruction of justice, malfeasance in office and failure to assist or aid another officer. And a third officer of the department, Tyrone Abrams, was booked with one count malfeasance in office, and one count principal to obstruction of justice.
After several comments from the city's attorney explaining labor laws and the rights of an employee to be compensated, the Council decided to take more time to discuss Butler's payout at a later meeting. However, the Council did accept her resignation.
Before the meeting, a KATC team tried to get a comment from Butler. We went to her home and asked if she'd like to tell us her side of the story but she told us to leave.
"Get away from my door," Butler said.
It's two days shy of a month since the incident occurred, and some in the community say they are ready to move on.
"It was just a dispute, and no, she shouldn't resign; she should be allowed to do her job too, and people are making this bigger than what it is. They need to let it go. People are doing the same thing out there. The only difference is they haven't gotten caught," said resident Sandra Davis.
To read the warrant that details the allegations against the three officers who were arrested, click here.
