Update: Sylvester Holt was pronounced dead late Friday night.
A man who may be the suspect in an early-morning Marrero shooting that killed a Westwego police officer is on the Crescent City Connection threatening to jump.
Several law enforcement agencies have been involved in a manhunt for Sylvester Holt since this morning after Officer Michael Louvier and an unidentified woman were shot and killed at the intersection of Ames and Barataria boulevards.
A number of people can be seen standing on the bridge and blue lights from squad cars are flashing.
A man can be seen carefully walking back and forth along the side of the bridge.
You can watch the negotiations live here.
Westwego Police Chief Dwayne Munch minced no words in describing what happened.
“This was a cold-blooded murder,” Munch said. “Officer Louvier was shot in the back of the head.”
Holt shot himself in the chest at about 5:30 p.m. as he stood on a support girder of the bridge, ending a 7-hour standoff. He was seen stumbling immediately after and falling onto the girder.
A first responder rappelled down to the bridge’s girder using the crane and was checking on Holt about 6:10 p.m. Holt was finally lifted as he was tethered to a law enforcement officer and placed on the bridge span.
A New Orleans-area sheriff says that during negotiations, Sylvester Holt admitted shooting his pregnant ex-girlfriend and an off-duty police officer.
The Times-Picayune reports that Holt had a history of violence and was recently released from jail after being charged with the rape of another New Orleans-area woman.
Prior to the rape accusations against Holt, he was arrested in St. Bernard Parish when he was accused of threatening his ex-girlfriend with a gun and threatening to kill her. He also has a prior Jefferson Parish arrest from 2008 where he was charged with battery of a police officer.