Deputy Sheriff Brandon Joseph Nielsen

Brandon Joseph Nielsen

Deputy Sheriffs Brandon Nielsen and Jeremy Triche were shot and killed in LaPlace, Louisiana, by members of a domestic terrorist group known as the Sovereign Citizens. They were shot while investigating an earlier ambush shooting that wounded a sheriff's office investigator.

The investigator was working an off duty security detail at a remote parking lot used by a construction company for contract employees at about 5:00 am when someone opened fire on him as he sat in his department vehicle.

Responding units located a car they believed had been involved in the early shooting in a nearby trailer park. As deputies Triche and Nielsen, and a third deputy questioned two men outside of a mobile home, a third man suddenly exited the home and opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle, striking all three deputies. Deputies Nielsen and Triche both died as a result of their wounds. The third deputy, who was related to Deputy Triche, was seriously wounded.

Seven subjects were arrested and held in connection with both separate shooting incidents.

Deputy Nielsen had served with the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff's Office for one year and in law enforcement for 10 years. He is survived by his wife, five children, parents, and sister.