Police: Boy killed after marshals shoot at fleeing vehicle

ALEXANDRIA, La. — A 6-year-old boy was killed and his father critically injured after city marshals fired at a fleeing vehicle, according to Louisiana State Police.

The shooting occurred at around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday in Marksville, southeast of Alexandria in central Louisiana. Investigators said city marshals were pursuing a man and "discharged their duty weapons, at a vehicle."

The driver was critically wounded, and a 6-year-old passenger was pronounced dead. The release doesn't include specific information on the incident, but sources told The Town Talk that the man had tried to ram a police vehicle and that the child was his son.

According to The Associated Press, Avoyelles Parish Coroner L.J. Mayeux identified the driver as Chris Few and his son as Jeremy Mardis, a first-grader at a nearby elementary school. The coroner said Mardis died from multiple gunshot wounds to his head and chest.

Few was listed in serious condition Wednesday morning, according to hospital officials.

Mayeux said city marshals were chasing Few after he fled an attempt to serve a warrant. The coroner said Few reached a dead end and was backing into the marshals when they fired. The coroner said the boy was "caught in the line of fire" and was killed.

"More likely than not they were shooting into the driver side, and he was on the passenger side," Mayeux said. "He was in the line of fire."

It was not immediately clear what type of warrant the marshals were trying to serve, according to the AP.

State Police investigators are handling the investigation at the request of the Marksville Police Department.

Blaine Dauzat, the Avoyelles superintendent of schools, said Mardis moved to the school district from Mississippi at the end of his kindergarten year last April.

"We are definitely all shaken up," he said. "It's been a tough day at work for all of us."

Contributing: The Associated Press