New Orleans road-rage shooting suspect killed by JPSO deputy at Metairie apartment

METAIRIE, La. (WVUE) - An 18-year-old man wanted for allegedly shooting a New Orleans motorist during a road-rage incident last weekend was fatally shot Tuesday (June 6) by a Jefferson Parish deputy during a standoff at a Metairie apartment complex.

Sheriff Joe Lopinto would not identify the dead suspect, but said the man was well known to law enforcement agencies in both parishes.

Lopinto said his deputy “utilized the proper force” when he shot the man dead through a windshield, because the suspect was driving a stolen car toward the lawman after being surrounded at The Lumiere apartments at 3301 West Esplanade Ave.

The deputy’s identity also was not disclosed, after the third fatal shooting this year by a JPSO officer.

A law enforcement source told Fox 8 the dead suspect was 18-year-old Calvin Cains III, a man with two open court cases who was wanted anew for allegedly shooting a motorist Sunday in a road rage incident near North Claiborne and Esplanade avenues in Treme.

In that incident, a 30-year-old man told New Orleans police that his vehicle was nearly struck by a car occupied by two males around 12:34 p.m. The motorist said he followed the other men to express his displeasure at the near-accident, only to be wounded when the passenger in the car pointed a gun and shot him once. The NOPD has not said where the victim was struck nor disclosed his condition, but said his injury was not life-threatening.

Cains was one week shy of his 19th birthday. His juvenile criminal history is not accessible by the public, but adult court records show he had been arrested at least twice since June 2022, with pending court cases in both Orleans and Jefferson parishes.

Cains was awaiting a July 12 hearing in Jefferson Parish, where he was charged with possessing two handguns in the presence of narcotics, driving a stolen car, and identity theft for trying to withdraw $1,000 from a victim’s bank account. A judge set a $20,500 bond in that case, but court records show Cains was released just three days after his arrest last June 21 because of overcrowding in the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center.

Two months later – on Aug. 31, 2022 – Cains was arrested again, this time in Orleans Parish. He was charged with three counts of drug possession (marijuana, cocaine and the opioid Tapentadol), illegally carrying a weapon in the presence of the narcotics, and illegally possessing stolen things valued at $25,000 or more (a charge often linked to a stolen car).

Cains was presently out on a $15,000 bond in his New Orleans case, with a pretrial conference scheduled for July 25.

While not identifying the dead man, Lopinto said, “He’s a known suspect we’ve dealt with numerous times before, with drugs and guns. He’s been arrested numerous times in Jefferson Parish and New Orleans.”

According to Lopinto, New Orleans police had asked the JPSO’s help searching for the suspect, who was known to live either in or near The Lumiere apartments. The sheriff said his deputies spotted the vehicle the man was last seen driving -- a car reported stolen out of New Orleans -- and were preparing to set up surveillance on the unocccupied car when the suspect returned to it.

Lopinto said deputies advanced on the vehicle and tried to block it in, but the suspect reversed against a fence and drove forward attempting to escape. As the suspect drove toward the deputy advancing on foot, Lopinto said, “My deputy ended up firing shots into the windshield and killed him on scene.”

The car in which Cains was killed appeared to have at least four bullet holes in the windshield. Lopinto said he believed the fatal volley of gunfire was justified.

“He put one of our deputies’ lives in danger, and the deputy utilized the proper force,” Lopinto said, adding the officer-involved shooting remains under investigation.

The JPSO said no other injuries were reported and no other suspects were at large. The agency said two of the deputies at the scene were wearing body-worn cameras.

Jefferson Parish deputies have fatally shot two others in 2023.

Kevin Veal of Harvey was killed inside a Terrytown convenience store on Feb. 25, after putting a JPSO deputy in a headlock and holding a gun to the officer’s head. And Metairie’s Joseph Riviere III was fatally shot in his driveway on April 22 after allegedly pointing a gun at deputies seeking to question him.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Click Here to report it. Please include the headline.

Copyright 2023 WVUE. All rights reserved.