A St. Landry Parish grand jury has indicted Opelousas Chief of Police Graig "Twin" Leblanc and two others in connection with a December 2023 shooting that involved the chief, his wife and a former officer.
Leblanc, former Police Officer Savannah Butler and Opelousas Police Officer Tyron Abrams were all named in the indictment.
Butler is accused of attempted manslaughter, aggravated assault with a firearm, aggravated battery, obstruction of justice, malfeasance in office.
Leblanc is accused of obstruction of justice, malfeasance in office.
Abrams is accused of malfeasance in office and obstruction of justice.
St. Landry Parish Sheriff's deputies booked all three back around the time of the incident; deputies investigated the shooting because it occurred at Butler's home, which is in the sheriff's jurisdiction. At the time, deputies said Butler shot at the chief and the chief's wife after the wife came to Butler's home to speak to her husband. They described it as a "domestic incident."
Butler was booked with two counts negligent injury, one count obstruction of justice and one count illegal use of a weapon. Leblanc was booked with obstruction of justice, malfeasance in office and failure to assist or aid another officer. Abrams was booked with one count malfeasance in office and one count principal to obstruction of justice. At the time, Abrams was the public information officer for the department.
Here's what the investigating detective alleged in the arrest warrant that was issued for the chief at the time of the incident:
He was called to Butler's home the night of the shooting, after the chief showed up at an Opelousas Hospital with a gunshot wound to the hand. His wife - a fellow sheriff's deputy - was shot in the shoulder.
When the detective got to Butler's home, he saw blood on the house, blood on Butler's OPD unit - a Dodge Charger - and he saw that it appeared some blood had recently been washed away on the carport. He also noticed that the house had surveillance cameras.
The detective got a warrant for the footage on the cameras. There were four: two outside, with no audio, and one at the front door and another in the living room. Those two do have audio, the detective wrote.
The videos showed Butler arrive at the home around 8 p.m., and the chief showed up four minutes later. They were both inside the home when (the chief's wife) arrived at about 8:30 p.m. to knock on the door. The chief comes out to talk to (the chief's wife), and the next video shows Leblanc shot in the hand, (the chief's wife) shot in the shoulder, and Butler holding a gun and arguing with (the chief's wife).
(The chief's wife) tried to get her husband into her car, and he was telling her "do not call anyone." She said she was, because she was shot and he was, too. Butler is seen on the video pulling the chief out of his wife's car. The chief and Butler went back into her home.
(The chief's wife) got help from someone else to get to the hospital, the detective wrote.
Here are some of our stories on this incident:
https://www.katc.com/st-landry-parish/opelousas-police-chief-issues-statement-about-incident
