METAIRIE, La. — Authorities have identified a man who was fatally shot after allegedly pointing a gun at law enforcement officers on Airline Highway on Sunday night.
Louisiana State Police say the man who died in the shooting was 52-year-old Jabari Farafiai Asante-Chioke of Laplace, La.
According to state police, multiple law enforcement agencies were directing traffic at Airline Highway and Severn Avenue when several concerned drivers stopped and told them that there was a man walking with a gun near Causeway Boulevard. Officers say they drove the area and saw a black man with a gun in one hand and a knife in the other hand.
Troopers say officers tried to talk to Asante-Chioke but he ran away, prompting a brief chase.
"During the pursuit, law enforcement personnel gave repeated verbal commands to drop the weapons and discharged a taser which proved ineffective," state police say.
Troopers say Asante-Chioke continued to ignore verbal commands and turned to face officers, and "pointed the firearm in their direction." A trooper and two officers from the East Jefferson Levee District shot at Asante-Chioke, striking him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
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