Auto Thieves Kill Teen Hours After Anti-Carjacking Law Begins

BATON ROUGE, La. —  Just hours after a Louisiana law that allows drivers to shoot would-be carjackers took effect Friday, one teenager was killed and another was wounded by two men who stole their car.

St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office Capt. Newman Braud said two Abbeville, La., teenagers were shoved from their car and shot by two men they had picked up earlier.

Damian Durke, 19, died at the scene, he said. Kelso Montgomery, 18, managed to walk to a nearby home to summon police after the carjackers drove off.

The law permits intended carjacking victims to shoot to kill when they believe themselves threatened by an assailant, armed or not.

The law, approved by the Legislature earlier this summer, is a companion to the 1993 “shoot the burglar” law that allows residents to open fire when they believe themselves to be in danger from an intruder.

Louisiana law already permitted handguns to be carried in vehicles without permits.

Elsewhere in the state, police reported no incidents.

“We haven’t killed any up here today,” Monroe, La., Police Lt. Mike Walker said. “I figured we’d have all-out war, but it hasn’t happened.

“Those shootings in St. Martinville are really ironic,” a New Orleans Police Department spokeswoman said.

“I mean, that’s what the law was supposed to prevent. Now you can’t help but worry that the next person’s going to overreact when somebody walks up to his car for directions,” she said.

The new law’s supporters intended the measure to serve as a deterrent, but detractors said it was unnecessary and potentially dangerous. “Self-defense has always been a valid defense,” one law enforcement official said. “You just have to use it when necessary.”