Metairie is a western suburb of New Orleans.
According to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, the unidentified 43-year-old taxi driver was accosted by the armed suspect at about 1 a.m. The attacker allegedly demanded money.
However, the driver was also armed and fired several rounds at the suspect, who was later identified as 23-year-old Gerald Pope. NOLA.com reported that he was pronounced dead at the scene by the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office.
Investigators with the Sheriff’s Office believe Pope is the suspect who robbed two other cab drivers from the same company. He matched the description of the suspect in another robbery at 3 p.m. the previous day and still another last week.
No other details were immediately available about the previous two robberies.
Capt. Jason Rivarde, a spokesperson with the office, said that the driver will not face charges as he “was presented with a threat to his life.” He classified the shooting as a justifiable homicide.
Rivarde was asked why the Sheriff’s Office did not release further information. Rivarde explained, “The sanctity of the criminal investigations comes before anything. In an investigation like this, ensuring that information about the shooting was not publicly available was very important.”
New Orleans is less than 10 miles away and has been rocked by a stunning increase in violent crimes in the past year. The city now has a homicide rate of 70 per 100,000 residents. Compared to 2019, there is now a 20% increase in armed robberies and a 156% surge in carjackings.
