On the night of February 5, 2000, in Jennings, Louisiana, a 911 call reporting a medical emergency set in motion a tragic chain of events. Patrolman Burton James LeBlanc, a 30-year-old male officer with seven years of service in the Jennings Police Department, was one of three officers dispatched to the 1600 block of North Cutting Street. The residence belonged to a retired Jennings Police Captain, Kenneth Guidry, and his wife, Christine, and the responding officers believed they were providing
assistance for a health-related issue, possibly connected to Christine's known battle with cancer.
As LeBlanc and his fellow officers, Johnny Lassiter and Doug Murry, approached the carport door of the home, the situation turned violent with shocking speed. From inside the house, a suspect, later identified as 52-year-old Phillip Lynn Karam, a former officer of the same police department, opened fire with a revolver. Unprotected by a vest, LeBlanc was struck in the arm and the chest. The other two officers were also shot and wounded. Despite the immediate efforts of his colleagues and medical personnel, Burton LeBlanc was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead from the fatal chest wound.
Following the shooting, Karam retreated into the backyard of the Guidry home, initiating a standoff with law enforcement that lasted for approximately two hours. After negotiations, Karam surrendered in the driveway and was taken into custody. Inside the residence, police discovered the bodies of Kenneth and Christine Guidry; Karam had murdered them before the officers arrived. The initial 911 call, which was mostly silent except for the sound of moaning, had been made by Christine Guidry as the tragedy unfolded.
Phillip Lynn Karam was subsequently charged with three counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder. A grand jury indicted him, and he was convicted on all three counts of murder. For his crimes, he received three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The killer, Phillip Karam, later died in prison on January 30, 2011. Burton LeBlanc was survived by his wife and child, leaving behind a community to mourn a fallen officer who was killed in a sudden and brutal ambush.
