By Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. — A Louisiana man accused of fatally shooting a 21-year police veteran as well as his girlfriend’s stepfather before engaging with authorities in an hourslong standoff has been indicted on murder charges.
An East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury on Wednesday charged Ronnie Kato, 36, with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Lt. Glenn Hutto Jr., 45, and Curtis Richardson, 58, news outlets reported.
District Attorney Hillar Moore III said a formal decision on whether to seek the death penalty would be made in the “near future,” according to The Advocate.
Kato was accused of fatally shooting Richardson, his girlfriend’s stepfather, during a domestic dispute on the morning of April 26 before allegedly shooting Hutto and Cpl. Derrick Maglone with an assault-style rifle as the two officers searched for him in the backyard of a Baton Rouge home.
Kato barricaded himself inside a home after the shooting and was taken into custody after an hourslong standoff with police, according to authorities.
Maglone was hospitalized with critical injuries and released more than 10 days later, officials said.