Man Kills 2 at Louisiana Office
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
ALEXANDRIA, La. — Police shot and killed a man who shot five people in a downtown law office, killing two of them, the mayor said early today.
A 63-year-old former city worker, John Ashley, opened fire yesterday afternoon. Two of the wounded managed to escape, and police rescued a third. Ashley remained in the building with the two remaining victims, who police found dead after using explosives to enter the building early today.
They killed Ashley in an exchange of gunfire, mayor Jacques Roy said. No officers were injured.
The mayor declined to speculate about Ashley’s motive. The gunman had retired as a city maintenance worker.
The shootout ended a standoff that lasted hours and caused police to block off much of downtown. Before the deadly shooting, the gunman had repeatedly fought off officers’ attempts to reach the victims and shot at a remote-controlled police robot sent into the building, police said.
Police Chief Daren Coutee said officers called Ashley repeatedly on his cell phone and the office phone throughout the day but he refused to talk.
“We did all we could do as far as negotiations were concerned,” Mr. Coutee said.
Mr. Roy identified one of the dead as Joey Giordano, son of attorney Camille Giordano, who was shot but not killed. The other person killed was Marty Fields, a postal worker who was delivering mail to the law firm when he walked in on the shootings, Mr. Roy said.
The Town Talk newspaper of Alexandria reported that Camille Giordano, bloodied and in boxer shorts, emerged from the building after police arrived and was taken to a hospital. A call to a hospital spokeswoman was not immediately returned.
The Rapides Regional Medical Center identified the other victims as an attorney, Sam Giordano, and the law firm’s secretary, Andrea Fletcher Price.
Sam Giordano, 49, was in serious condition, and Mr. Price, 27, was in fair condition, a hospital spokeswoman, Courtney Michiels, said.
The law office, converted from a one-story family home, is located near the Rapides Parish Courthouse.
The shooting rampage astounded people who know Ashley.
“I’ve never heard him raise his voice. I never heard of him being violent,” Ashley’s neighbor and a local pastor, Charlie Gilmore, said.
