Heroes of Bossier Parish will be honored for their work
One of the officers who will be recognized was a part of a crime that horrified Bossier City when families lost two loved ones in a fatal shooting inside the Valero gas station in 2023.
Bossier City Police Officer Kenny Gallon responded to the scene and got into a shootout with the suspect. He was shot several times. Danny 'Bo' Turner, his fellow officer, applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. They are credited with saving more lives and each others. The Bossier Chamber of Commerce will recognize the duo as community heroes.
'Our first responders are the first ones to get in there and take care of it with no hesitation, take bullets and save lives,' said Lisa Johnson, President/CEO of the Bossier Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber will host its annual Salute to Community Heroes event. This awards program has grown over the years to include individuals from various jobs and organizations, including health care workers after the pandemic.
'We have caring people here, and our human assets are what sells us,' Johnson.
Johnson said that community heroes are what make Northwest Louisiana strong. The chamber spotlights these individuals to showcase the area's best.
'Business retention does not happen without community development and quality of life issues. We want businesses to stay, and new businesses to move in, and those are the things that they look for. So why not celebrate those who are making a difference,' Johnson said.
The Salute to Community Heroes is May 15 at 8 a.m. inside Margaritaville. The Bossier Chamber of Commerce said it's a free program open to the public. Purchasing tickets supports their effort,s and sponsorships are still available.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Chinatown acid attack suspect Marquis Johnson charged with assault
Prosecutors charged Marquis Johnson with first-degree assault in the Aug. 8 Chinatown acid attack on a 30-year-old cook, who sustained severe injuries. The 34-year-old was charged at 4 :35 p.m. Tuesday, just under the wire of the 48-hour charging deadline. Had they not met the deadline, police would have had to release Johnson. Johnson's bail was set at $500, 000. First-degree assault is a Class B felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $25, 000 fine. Johnson likely will make his initial court appearance in Honolulu District Court this morning. Johnson surrendered at the main police station at 5 :35 p.m. Sunday after police named him Thursday and provided a photograph to the public, naming him as the Aug. 8 acid attack suspect. Johnson's arrest shocked friends, who described him as a kind, sweet person who danced ballet and flamenco. They had hoped it was a case of mistaken identity, which had occurred before. Johnson was wrongly arrested in 2022 while he was walking along a Waikiki street around midnight on Aug. 22, 2020, where two car theft suspects, who also were Black men, had been in the area. In the complaint, Johnson said he was told to lie prone on the ground, and handcuffed, in a case of mistaken identity, and that one officer used excessive force. The case was recently settled in federal court. In the Aug. 8 attack, police said the suspect approached the victim on the sidewalk, asked him a few questions, then suddenly threw sulfuric acid on the victim. The victim told police he did not know his assailant, police Lt. Deena Thoemmes said. The incident occurred at the corner of North Hotel and Smith streets. An employee of Lucky Belly, a restaurant at that intersection, said the victim, a cook, had come from Livestock Tavern to get some food items from Lucky Belly, which has the same owners. He said the attack occurred just outside Lucky Belly's kitchen after the cook left to return to Livestock Tavern. Police said the acid attack victim returned to his workplace, where co-workers aided him and called 911. A witness provided a description that resulted in a police sketch of a man wearing a do-rag head covering and glasses. Police said the assailant had a camera around his neck and was carrying a red or maroon water bottle. That description was initially shared with the public Aug. 13, five days after the attack. Police also provided images from surveillance video of the suspect, wearing a blue hooded shirt, walking across the street. The acid attack has similarities to two previous attacks, which were related to each other. The first was allegedly carried out by Paul Cameron in 2023 at a Mililani fitness center against a young woman he knew. Cameron also was charged in the second attack as an accomplice in attempted murder in an apparently random attack against a Chinese language teacher. The second attack was allegedly part of a murder-for-hire plot by Cameron to divert attention from him as a possible suspect in the first case. The man facing trial in the second attack is Sebastian Mahkwan, who Cameron allegedly enlisted while they were in jail.
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Miami Herald
Gender reveal party turned deadly when DC man opened fire, killing one, feds say
A man attending a gender reveal party in Washington, D.C., grabbed an 'AK-style rifle' from his backpack and shot two people also at the celebration, killing a 21-year-old who tried to flee, federal prosecutors said. Now, more than three years later, Nyjell Outler, 22, has been sentenced to 24 years and six months in prison over the 2021 shooting, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia announced in an Aug. 18 news release. Outler, of D.C., was found guilty in March of voluntary manslaughter while armed and aggravated assault while armed by a D.C. Superior Court jury, prosecutors said. His criminal defense attorney, Thomas A. Key, did not immediately return McClatchy News' request for comment Aug. 19. Ahead of Outler's Aug. 15 sentencing hearing, Key and his co-counsel, Gemma Stevens, argued Outler opened fire to protect himself at the gender reveal March 20, 2021, D.C. Witness reported. At the party at a home on Madison Street, about a 5-mile drive northeast from the White House, Outler had been 'hanging out' in a driveway and spoke with other attendees, according to prosecutors. Within an hour of him arriving at about 7:43 p.m., he temporarily left before returning to the driveway, prosecutors said. When he came back, Outler was holding the 'Draco' firearm at his right side, according to prosecutors. Three other men, Johnson, Daloni Williams and a third person were in the driveway at the time. That is when 'Daloni Williams took a couple steps toward (Outler) with his arm extended, as if to say, 'put that away,'' prosecutors said. Outler shot Williams twice, 'point-blank' in his legs in response, according to prosecutors. He then turned and fired two shots at Johnson and another 'young' man, as they tried to escape, prosecutors said. Johnson was struck in the back by one of the bullets, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He died in the backyard of where the party was held. Williams, who survived the shooting and needed emergency surgery for his leg, was in the hospital for nine days, prosecutors said. His hospital stay was followed by months of physical therapy. Dozens of partygoers were inside and outside the house when Outler shot Johnson and Williams, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Outler, who fled the gender reveal, had on a GPS monitor due to a prior his arrest stemming from an earlier 'Draco' possession charge from February 2021, prosecutors said. He cut off the GPS monitor and remained a fugitive for nearly a year until an anonymous tip led law enforcement to Florida, where he was arrested in February 2022, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. In Outler's defense, Stevens argued at trial that there was 'a lot of speculation and finger pointing,' according to a report from D.C. Witness. She also contended, citing video evidence, that Outler had been surrounded moments before shots were fired, and Johnson 'had his hand in his coat pocket, where responders found a firearm after the shooting,' the outlet reported. Prosecutors, however, argued Outler was never threatened, and the shooting was intentional, according to D.C. Witness. The prosecution team had asked the court to sentence Outler to 35 years in prison, before judge Jason Park issued his 24.5-year sentence, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. In seeking a higher sentence, the government detailed Outler's criminal history, which also includes armed assaults 'a misdemeanor sex offense (he) is reported to have perpetrated since being brought back to Washington, D.C. from Florida,' prosecutors said. While on the run, Outler was on the U.S. Marshals Service Top 15 most wanted list.
Dominion Post
2 days ago
- Dominion Post
Longtime city employee claims 'systematic culture of racism'
MORGANTOWN — A longtime employee with the city of Morgantown has filed a lawsuit against the city claiming, among other things, the city has failed to honor a previous settlement agreement and continues to foster a 'systematic culture of racism.' Lamar Johnson, a 24-year employee of the city, filed suit in Monongalia County Circuit Court on Aug. 6 naming the city as the lone defendant. According to South Charleston attorney Sean Cook, Johnson is suing because the city has failed to honor a 2020 settlement agreement that resulted from mediation after the city was notified of a potential civil claim over race-based violations of the West Virginia Human Rights Act. Cook claims those violations resulted in disparate impact, disparate treatment, hostile work environment, retaliation and failure to promote. The 2020 mediation statement, included as background in the lawsuit, claims multiple examples of racial slurs and racial intimidation within the public works garage as well as a lack of promotion of Johnson and another African American who was a 25-plus year employee of the city garage. It claims neither man had received a single promotion in their time with the city. The statement includes an affidavit from the former director of public works laying out a number of concerns, including the termination of the FPC Morgantown (Kennedy Center) inmate work program with the city due to repeated racially discriminatory speech and behavior from the city employee overseeing the inmates. Ultimately, in lieu of litigation, the city and Johnson reached a settlement agreement that mandated, among other things, Johnson receive the systems training afforded to other employees. According to the lawsuit, that training was never sufficiently provided and Johnson was recently passed over for promotion in lieu of an external candidate who is Caucasian. 'Lamar has been intentionally excluded from numerous other training and educational programs since 2020 …,' the lawsuit states. 'Lamar has now worked for the city for approximately 24 years and has been denied upward mobility and promotions despite his service and experience.' Cook says any claims from the city that Johnson has not been promoted due to substandard job performance is 'inherently flawed' because he would have been fired by now if that were the case. Further, 'the same decision-makers who made such a determination are part of the implicit and explicit prejudicial system at the City.' According to the suit, the city has breached its 2020 'contract' with Johnson, engaged in racial discrimination resulting in disparate impact, retained employees negligently resulting in harm, been negligent in employee training, has not dealt fairly and in good faith and is guilty of prima facie negligence for failing to follow its own policies. 'The City of Morgantown is aware of the complaint filed by Mr. Johnson, and it is currently under review through the appropriate legal processes,' Morgantown Communications Director Brad Riffee said. 'We want to make it unequivocally clear that the City of Morgantown does not tolerate racism or any form of discrimination. We remain committed to fostering an inclusive, respectful and equitable community for all.'
