A Mandeville Police officer is dead and another is wounded following a Friday afternoon shooting near the intersection of Louisiana Highway 22 and US 190. Police Chief Gerald Sticker says the fallen officer is 58-year-old Captain Vinny Liberto Junior.
“We have a wife that is grieving, we have (seven) children that are grieving, we have an agency, that hasn’t lost a police officer in probably over 50 years, they are grieving,” said Sticker.
Liberto is a Brother Martin grad who served in the U-S Marine Corps and had a decorated military career. He joined the Mandeville Police department in 1994. Many of his children work in law enforcement.
State Police has charged 21-year-old Mark Spicer of Covington with the fatal shooting of Liberto. The other officer shot is expected to survive.
LSP says the incident started when a Mandeville Police officer initiated a traffic stop on Spicer’s vehicle, who refused to stop. During the course of the pursuit, Spicer crashed the vehicle. He got out and started shooting.
