Nightmare in St. Martin parish

This has got to be one of the nightmares of police work.

LAFAYETTE — A St. Martin Parish sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a Cade man late Wednesday while he was beating his 3-year-old daughter, who died hours later.

A cop never wants to be involved in a fatal shooting. To shoot a man who won't quit beating a child is certainly justifiable, but damn!

Higgins said deputies arrived about 10:20 p.m. and found Sengdao Kittiraj, 32, beating his daughter.

Higgins said the father failed to respond to repeated commands to stop and had fought off an attack dog that deputies had unleashed.

I'm sure they tried to reason with him, then used a dog against him, and he wouldn't quit beating the child. This guy had serious impulse control problems

.“They were trying to use every means possible,” Higgins said.

She said one of the deputies chose to fire on Kittiraj in an effort to protect the child, himself and other deputies.

Kittiraj was pronounced dead at the scene.

And the baby?

His daughter, Kaloey Laigh Kittiraj, died early Thursday at Lafayette General Medical Center, Higgins said.

Damn, damn, damn. What a nightmare.

The Sheriff’s Office did not identify the deputy involved in the shooting.

He has been placed on administrative leave pending a State Police investigation of the incident, a routine procedure in shootings involving law-enforcement officers, Higgins said.

The results of the investigation will be handed over to the District Attorney’s Office for a decision on whether the use of deadly force was appropriate.

I'm sure that the deputy will be exonerated. We are certainly justified in using lethal force against a man who is killing a child.

Just damn.

Hat tip to Junior.