In the quiet town of Franklin, Louisiana, a young life dedicated to law enforcement was tragically cut short on December 9, 2016. Jason Tyler Hagan, a 24-year-old male St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Deputy, was shot and killed in an off-duty incident that stemmed from a domestic dispute.
The series of events leading to Hagan's untimely death began when he accompanied a woman to a residence on Gumpoint Lane.
The woman was there to retrieve personal belongings from the home she shared with her estranged husband. While she was inside, an argument erupted between her and her husband. The confrontation escalated, and the husband armed himself with a handgun.
Hagan, who was waiting outside, heard the commotion and entered the home in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. It was then that the husband, identified as Wilbert Thibodeaux, turned the weapon on the young deputy, firing multiple shots and fatally wounding him. Another woman present in the home was also shot and injured during the tragic encounter.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, law enforcement from multiple agencies, including the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office, the Franklin Police Department, and the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office, responded to the scene. A standoff ensued with Thibodeaux, who had barricaded himself inside the residence. After several hours of negotiation, Thibodeaux surrendered to authorities and was taken into custody.
Following an investigation by the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office, Wilbert Thibodeaux, 48 at the time, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Deputy Jason Hagan. He also faced charges of attempted first-degree murder for the shooting of the other woman and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Thibodeaux's wife, Tameka Thibodeaux, who was the woman Hagan had accompanied to the residence, was also arrested on an outstanding warrant for a drug court violation.
