On a Wednesday afternoon, August 11, 2004, a seemingly routine 911 hang-up call led to the tragic death of a Bossier City police officer. Officer Trey Michael Hutchison, a 27-year-old male, was the first to arrive at a residence in the 3200 block of Jana Place around 3:00 p.m. to investigate the disconnected call. Unbeknownst to him, the call had been made by a woman who reported her husband had pulled a gun on her. The suspect, 65-year-old Michael Hebert, was waiting for the police to arrive.
As Officer Hutchison knocked on the door, Hebert opened it and ambushed him, firing a shotgun and striking him twice in the back.
A backup officer arrived moments later to find Officer Hutchison on the ground. The officer immediately called for assistance and began administering CPR. Hutchison, who was wearing a protective vest, was struck in areas not covered by it. He was airlifted to LSU Medical Center in Shreveport, but succumbed to his wounds about an hour later. Having served with the Bossier City Police Department for just under a year, Hutchison had previously been with the Lufkin, Texas Police Department for over five years.
Following the shooting, a massive law enforcement presence, including city police, sheriff's deputies, and state police, converged on the quiet Barksdale Annex neighborhood and surrounded the house where Hebert had barricaded himself. A state police robot was later used to enter the home, where Hebert was found deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Investigators learned that Hebert's wife had managed to escape the house after he threatened her, and as she was leaving, she told him she was calling the police. Hebert reportedly replied, 'Fine, I'll get at least one of them before they get me.' It was also discovered that Hebert had a criminal history, having spent five years in prison in the 1970s for armed robbery and kidnapping, and had a known history of violence towards police officers. In 2005, the 'Trey Hutchison Act' was signed into Louisiana law, requiring offenders who commit violent crimes against peace officers to register with the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information.
