Matthew Lathers, the runaway gunman who shot three , Kenner , authorities officers and two bystanders during an eight- hours standoff on Sunday, set up some create- shift alarms and fortifications inside the , Kenner , home where he was hiding, according to authorities.
Massages was lying in wait, armed with a shotgun, when members of the district’s SWAT team entered the house in the 700 block of , Farm Avenue , to open up a District machine that had gotten tangled in shutters while checking the house for occupants.
” The firing upon my officers was an ambush” , , Kenner Police , Chief , Keith Conley , said. ” He had hidden himself behind a bunker-like condition made of crude plywood.”
Conley said Lathers recently in the , U. S. Army. He received standard teaching, but he was fired for using drugs for about 11 times in 2012.
After an investigation into the conflict that a , Jefferson Parish Sheriff ‘s , Office SWAT team hero shot and killed Lathers, 31, after he allegedly opened fire on delegates outside the home, the police chief gave an update on Monday.
All three of the , Kenner , soldiers shot by Massages during the conflict had been released from the hospital by late Sunday evening. According to Capt., the two observers who Lathers shot before the conflict started have also been released from the hospital.  , Michael Cunningham, director for the office.
But a 56- yr- old man that , Kenner , police state Lathers shot and robbed five days before the standoff on , April 23 , was also hospitalized in controlled condition, Conley said.
Prior to this earlier shooting, Lathers was wanted for attempted second-degree murder and armed robbery, which triggered a manhunt.
” This man shot six people in a matter of seven days, and there was no end in sight”, Conley said.
Mistaken for police
Sunday’s standoff began after Lathers opened fire on two men in the 700 block of , Farm Avenue , in , Kenner, Cunningham said.
The men, 62 and 44, were driving in opposite directions on the street about , 9: 30 a. m.  , when they stopped to speak to one another through their open pickup truck windows, according to authorities.
Unknowingly, they had stopped near a house where Lathers was hiding out from police, authorities said. The two men stopped close to the house, according to investigators, and Lathers thought they were law enforcement when they saw them.
” They just happened to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time”, Conley said.
According to Cunningham, the 44-year-old man was shot in the abdomen and the other man was shot in the arm. One of them unintentionally reversed into a nearby ditch as they sped out of the area.
According to authorities, the men called 911 and informed the police that the gunfire had originated from a single-story, gray brick residence with iron bars on the windows and front doors.
Detectives who responded immediately realized the vacant house was linked , Matthew Lathers , and had belonged to his grandparents, Conley said.
Officers quickly obtained a search warrant and dispatched the department’s SWAT team to the scene. That decision likely saved their lives, according to Cunningham.
Cover fire
The Kenner SWAT team attempted to enter the front door while knocking on the door. The team then entered the house to look for occupants after two hours without receiving a response.
Three officers entered the home to use a long hook to untangle the robot after it was spotted by some drapes and entered behind a ballistic shield. That’s when Lathers opened fire and wounded the officers.
According to Conley, one of the officers “heroically returned cover fire so everyone could retreat.”
The Kenner SWAT team members were taken to a hospital for treatment.  , Kenner , police contacted the , Jefferson Parish , Sheriff’s Office SWAT team to take over the scene because they were now down by about four members, according to Conley.
” Every SWAT team has their own language, has their own drills. They train together. You ca n’t mix and mingle SWAT teams”, Conley said.
When authorities claim a sheriff’s sniper shot Lathers with a rifle and opened fire on the deputies, the sniper fatally shot them.
Investigators searched the house after the standoff ended and recovered three weapons, including the rifle, a gun believed used in the , April 23 , shooting and a second handgun, Conley said. In the house, they discovered 30 shell casings that had been left over.
Conley claimed that his body camera video allowed him to observe the officers ‘ assassination.
” In law enforcement, that is the worst call to get”, he said.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office , is conducting a joint investigation into the incident with the , Kenner Police Department. Once the investigation is complete, Conley predicted that authorities will release the body camera footage.
” I’m totally satisfied, as we stand here today, that we did everything that we could, in the best way that we could”, Conley said.
Previous crimes
Kenner , police still do n’t know why Lathers attacked the 56- year- old victim from the , April 23 , robbery. He was accused of shooting the man three times before stealing the victim’s wallet and cellphone in the 700 block of , Coleman Place, one street over from the standoff.
The victim, who knew Lathers from the neighborhood, told investigators he just remembered seeing Lathers approach before suddenly finding himself on the ground, according to authorities.
Lathers does have convictions for two counts of armed robbery in , Orleans Parish, according to court records. No details were immediately available about the 2012 holdups. Lathers pleaded guilty on , Nov. 8, 2013, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison for each count, court records said.
He served about 90 % of the sentence and was not on probation or parole at the time of the , Kenner , shootings, according to authorities.
Lathers had been living in , Kenner , but had ties to , LaPlace. Relatives told , Kenner , police that he may have had some mental problems, Conley said.
Lathers was n’t known to police before the , April 23 , attempted murder and did n’t have any other criminal convictions in , Jefferson Parish, according to Cunningham and court records.
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