New Orleans authorities are on the hunt for a prisoner who killed a veteran officer Saturday morning while being transported and then escaped, police said.
A major search was underway for the prisoner, 33-year-old Travis Boys, the New Orleans Police Department said on its Facebook page. Police say Boys fatally shot 45-year-old Officer Daryle Holloway, a veteran of the department for 22 years. He later died at the hospital.
NBC affiliate WDSU reported that Boys got hold of a gun and shot Holloway around 9 a.m. (10 a.m. ET). Boys pleaded guilty to an attempted criminal escape charge in 2004, WDSU said, and he was being transported on an aggravated assault charge.
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The shooting happened while the officer was transporting Boys to the city jail, The Associated Press reported.
Boys managed to get his hands, which were cuffed behind his back, to his front because he was double-jointed, New Orleans Police Chief Michael Harrison said at a news conference. He then reached through an opening in the divider and shot Holloway, leading the car to hit a utility pole, he added.
Police could not immediately say where the gun came from, but Holloway's service weapon was still in its holster.
"Today is an extremely sad day, not only for me, but for the city of New Orleans," Harrison said.
