LaPlace, La. -- In this community by the Mississippi River, life is naturally slower. But for many, the peace of mind they take for granted was shattered Thursday morning.
"And all this was just jammed packed with cars and everything. I thought there was a wreck because they got a lot of traffic on this road early in the morning like that," said resident Daniel Willford. But he and others would soon learn that it was not an auto accident.
Four St. John Parish deputies were ambushed and shot -- one of them at a parking lot on La. Highway 3217, the rest near the trailer park where Willford resides.
Brandi Perilloux heard some of the aftermath.
"Around five o' clock this morning I heard all the sirens and I had told my husband to take that way to go to work. I thought it was an accident, and he had called me and let me know. It's just terrible, terrible," Perilloux told FOX 8 News.
Residents struggled to make sense of the assault on the deputies. Two of the deputies were killed, two sustained serious wounds.
"It's a big tragedy for everybody," said resident Daniel Toler.
"Why? These cops are out there protecting people and they protect our families and everything, and to go kill one of these guys that put their lives on the line every day... I don't understand that at all," Willford added.
Serious crimes, and especially a tragedy like the one which unfolded in St. John Parish early Thursday, are hard for many residents to fathom.
"You don't hear about this that often. It's really a quiet area... it's very shocking to hear something like that going on," said Perilloux.
"There's too many other bad people in the world they can take their anger out on, not our police officers," said Willford.
"Pray, pray that everything is going to be okay," said Toler.
