Funeral held for Louisiana trooper killed during ambush

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A funeral was held Saturday for a Louisiana State Police trooper who was shot to death in an ambush a week earlier.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers gathered for a procession honoring Master Trooper Adam Gaubert, The Advocate reported. The motorcade took place before a funeral at St. George Catholic Church.

The 19-year State Police veteran was killed Oct. 9 in Ascension Parish, southeast of Baton Rouge, while he was in a parked patrol unit after working a crash scene.

Gaubert was one of the victims in a series of shootings that authorities attributed to a Matthew Reese Mire, 31, who was captured the night of Oct. 9.

Gaubert’s death went undiscovered for hours. State Police Superintendent Lamar Davis said investigators believe one reason that happened was that only emergency radio traffic was being used as Mire was on the loose. That meant Gaubert was not expected to check in at end of his shift.

Davis said camera footage obtained by investigators shows a truck police say was stolen by Mire entering the area where Gaubert was parked about 2:30 a.m. Oct. 9, more than 14 hours before the body was discovered.

The string of shootings that killed Gaubert and one other person is believed to have started in nearby Livingston Parish late on Oct. 8. Mire is suspected of shooting and wounding two people there before stealing a pickup truck.

Based on surveillance video, Davis said, Mire is believed to have entered the area where Gaubert was parked. Gaubert was not involved in the response to the Livingston shooting and is thought to have been finishing up a traffic crash report at the time.

Davis said police believe Mire went to the area to prepare for another attack in which a woman was killed and a man was wounded. The slain woman was Pamela Adair, 37, according to the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Mire exchanged gunfire with another state trooper who spotted the stolen truck about 5 a.m. Oct. 9, Davis said. He was captured later that night after a manhunt, found with a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound to the leg. He faced multiple charges in multiple jurisdictions, including murder of a police officer.

WBRZ-TV reported Friday that an Ascension Parish grand jury indicted Mire on charges of murder, attempted murder, home invasion, illegal use of a weapon, having stolen things, flight from an officer and attempted armed robbery. The name of Mire’s attorney was not immediately available.

Mire’s bond was set at $1 million for some of the charges in Ascension Parish, and he is being held without bond on the murder charge there. An East Baton Rouge Parish judge previously denied bond on East Baton Rouge charges.