Officer LaValley told fugitive Grover Cannon to put his hands up…Grover shot and killed Officer LaValley. Perhaps the good people of Shreveport should protest with signs saying: “Hands Up Don’t Shoot.” It works both ways…

A massive manhunt, much of it occurring in Shreveport’s Queensborough neighborhood, is still underway today for the man suspected of shooting and killing city police Officer Thomas LaValley as the officer answered a report of a suspicious person.

At the time of the police officer’s shooting, the suspect — who has an extensive criminal record of mostly property crimes dating to 2004 — was a fugitive wanted for attempted murder in connection with a shooting in Queensborough last month.

Wanted for the slaying of Officer LaValley is Grover D. Cannon, 27, of Judson Street in Shreveport. Dozens of officers from local, state and federal agencies were involved in the manhunt for Cannon.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Cannon. The FBI is also working alongside the U.S. Marshal’s Office.

Cannon, 27, is wanted on a first-degree murder charge in the death LaValley, 29, of Shreveport. Cannon also faces an attempted murder charge after an unrelated July 15 shooting on Judson Street in Shreveport.

LaValley, 29, was dispatched to a house in the 3500 block of Del Rio shortly before 9:15 p.m. Wednesday to a suspicious-person call. Police said a woman reported that a man was in her neighbor’s house and threatening the people there. The caller also said the man might have a gun and was a fugitive, police said.

LaValley, wearing a patrolman’s uniform, went inside. An audio recording, described as gut-wrenching, tells of LaValley confronting the man, ordering him to show his hands and the man opening fire.

The shooter then fled the house, police said.

Other officers responding to the call found the mortally wounded officer, pulled him out of the house and called for paramedics. LaValley, who was shot several times, was taken to University Health hospital, where efforts to save him were unsuccessful.

“There is nowhere he can go, nothing he can do, to stop us from bringing him to justice,” Police Chief Willie Shaw said of Cannon, who at the time of the shooting was wanted on attempted murder charges in connection with a shooting earlier this summer in Queensborough. “No matter what rock he crawls under, we will find him.

“He is nothing to me but a coward.”

LaValley, who was from St. Amant in South Louisiana, was a four-year veteran of the Police Department and honor graduate of his police academy class. Before being hired as a police officer, he worked as a news photographer for KTBS 3 News.

“He did not hesitate to confront a bad person,” Shaw said of LaValley. “In this day and time, where it’s become popular to denigrate law enforcement officers, here’s a chance to say something good about an officer who literally sacrificed his life to help others.”

Court records show Cannon has an extensive arrest record dating to 2004 with convictions for possession of stolen things, burglary, possession of marijuana, flight from an officer, misdemeanor battery, trespassing, resisting an officer and felony theft. Cannon dropped out of school after the 8th grade.

Cannon has spent most of his life in that neighborhood and family members still live there. His last known address was in the 3400 block of Judson Street in Shreveport.

Police say Cannon is considered dangerous.

Call the Shreveport Police Department at (318) 673-BLUE (2583), Crime Stoppers at (318) 673-7373 or the FBI at 1-877-926-8332 to provide information in this case.

Via: KTBS.com