La. man accused of killing US marshal dies

Deputy U.S. Marshal Josie Wells died Tuesday in a shootout while trying to arrest the fugitive

March 11, 2015 11:50 AM

Law enforcement personnel gather in front of the Elm Grove Motel on Elm Grove Garden Road just north of Progress Road in Baton Rouge, La.

Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. — An official says the man accused of killing a deputy U.S. marshal in a Louisiana shootout has died.

Shane Evans of the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office tells The Associated Press that 31-year-old Jamie D. Croom died early Wednesday morning.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Josie Wells died Tuesday in a shootout on the outskirts of Baton Rouge while trying to arrest Croom.

Croom was hit in the shootout and taken to a hospital. Officials say he was wanted in the Feb. 20 shooting deaths of two siblings outside a nightclub in New Roads, about 20 miles from Baton Rouge.

Wells was 27 and assigned to an office in Mississippi.

The last time a deputy marshal was killed in the line of duty in the U.S. was 2011.