Fugitive kills himself, officials say
Deputy chases suspect to South Harrell's Ferry
By JOSH NOEL
jnoel@theadvocate.com
Advocate staff writer
For the second time in a month, a fugitive from Texas has fatally shot himself after a traffic stop in East Baton Rouge Parish, Sheriff's Office officials said Monday.
Kevin G. Carlin, 33, died about 11 p.m. Sunday after a deputy tried to pull him over on the Millerville Road exit ramp off Interstate 12, Sheriff's Office spokesman Deputy Mike Crawford said.
Carlin fled down Millerville and South Harrell's Ferry roads, then lost control of a Chevy Lumina and came to a stop in the 17800 block of South Harrell's Ferry Road, Crawford said.
At the deputy's instruction, Carlin got out of the car, but then alternately pointed a handgun at the deputy and himself in a "teasing or taunting-type gesture," Crawford said.
The deputy fired a shot into Carlin's right arm, Crawford said.
Carlin paused a few seconds, then shot himself, Crawford said. He was declared dead at the scene.
Crawford said he did not know whether the incident was videotaped from the deputy's cruiser. He did not identify the deputy.
Carlin's last known address is in Ponchatoula, but the Lumina was registered to his mother in Texas, Crawford said.
"We don't know where he was coming from or where he was going," he said.
Houston police sought Carlin on a count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for a May 2003 incident, Houston Police Department spokesman Alvin Wright said.
Carlin was accused of hitting a man on the head with a beer bottle and punching him, Wright said.
Carlin had an "extensive" criminal record, including an arrest for attempted second-degree murder in Florida in 1989. He also had at least one DWI arrest and several drug-related arrests, Wright said.
Crawford said more information will be released about Sunday's incident on Wednesday, after the Mardi Gras holiday. He said the deputy was off duty Monday and today and he didn't know when the deputy would return to work.
In a news release, Lt. Col. Greg Phares of the Sheriff's Office said the deputy acted "lawfully, within Sheriff's Office policy and courageously."
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