Death of Handcuffed Louisiana Man Shot in Chest Ruled a Suicide

A Louisiana man who state police claimed shot and killed himself in March while in police custody died, not of a gunshot wound to the back, as police had initially reported, but of a shot to the chest, according to an autopsy report, KATC reports. 

The shooting occurred in the backseat of a patrol car after Victor White III was arrested for drug possession, KLFY notes. White’s hands were apparently cuffed behind his back as he was transported to jail. Once there, the 22-year-old reportedly did not want to get out of the patrol car. At some point, a gun that he was allegedly hiding in his pants appeared and he shot himself in the back, according to police reports.

However, according to KATC, the first page of the autopsy report, released by the Iberia Parish Coroner’s Office, details how White was shot in the chest, completely contradicting earlier police reports made after the fateful night in early March.

The bullet entered the young man’s chest and pierced his left lung and his heart before exiting around his armpit, according to the autopsy, which also called White’s death a “suicide.”

“Here is a family that, we are still grieving,” White’s father, Victor White Sr., told KLFY. “I’m angry the autopsy report took so long. I’m angry and frustrated with the fact that it’s still not over.

“My son didn’t shoot himself. I never believed it. I won’t believe it,” the father added. “My initial response was correct, that something was awry, and that something had gone wrong.”

According to KATC, State Police Master Trooper Brooks David acknowledged that the investigation into White’s death is still open. David also confirmed that while law enforcement did initially think that the wound came from the back, the autopsy proved otherwise.

Read more at KATC and KLFY.