Lebrandon Clarkson, 26, a Black man from Shreveport, Louisiana, was driving through north Shreveport before dawn on September 17, 2017, when the morning turned violent and sudden. Just after 5:45 a.m., police were dispatched to what first sounded like a major crash near the intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Russell Road—power had gone out in the area after a car slammed into a utility pole hard enough to damage the pole and the vehicle.
When officers arrived, they found Clarkson outside the car, several feet from it, suffering multiple gunshot wounds that were described as life-threatening. His passenger, Cedrick Stroughter, was also at the scene; he had not been shot but was injured in the crash and taken to the hospital as well. Detectives from the Shreveport Police violent crimes unit began collecting evidence and piecing together what happened in the moments before the vehicle left the roadway.
Investigators said early information suggested Clarkson had been traveling eastbound on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive when multiple vehicles pulled alongside and opened fire. Even after being hit, he was believed to have kept driving—until he lost control and struck the utility pole, turning the shooting into a wreck that drew attention from the whole neighborhood when the lights went out. As the scene was processed, authorities reported finding illegal narcotics and other items associated with manufacturing and distributing illicit drugs, leading investigators to suspect that narcotics may have been a motivating factor behind the attack.
Clarkson survived long enough to be transported for medical care, but he later died in the days that followed. Funeral home notices and obituary listings reported his date of death as September 20, 2017. In the information publicly available from the sources above, no suspects are named and no arrests, charges, trials, or convictions are reported in connection with the shooting; investigators indicated they were working to identify and apprehend those responsible.
