“It makes no sense”: NOPD detective killed in Houston cried while continuing the hunt for his killers | Crimes / Police

Detective Everett Briscoe had won the holidays.

A 13-year veteran of the New Orleans Police Department, Briscoe had been investigating homicides and other serious crimes throughout the city for more than a decade. The father of two boys, 41, was preparing for a college degree in criminal justice and, like many, worked to keep his family safe during the coronavirus pandemic.

So, as it unfolded during a trip to Houston on Saturday night, Briscoe decided to dine in the courtyard of the Grotto Restorante, in the fun gallery district of Texas City. But at 5:15 p.m., the night became tragic when two gunmen approached Briscoe and other patrons, demanded their belongings and opened fire, killing Briscoe and critically injuring another man visiting Nova. Orleans.

The assassination shocked civic and law enforcement leaders in New Orleans, who fought back tears on Sunday as they denounced the insensitivity to murder and the scourge of violent crime in U.S. cities.

“Having to report (Briscoe’s widow) and two children that her father and husband would not return home due to senseless violence is … difficult,” said NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson , flanked by Mayor LaToya Cantrell and other leaders at a press conference at police headquarters. “We lost a good one.”

Councilman Jay Banks, who has known Briscoe for years thanks to the two men ‘s membership in the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club, struggled to contain his despair.

“No other family should have to go through this,” he said, his voice raised in anger and pain. “No one else should be on these podiums and talk about it. … We have to figure out how to stop it, everyone. It makes no sense. It doesn’t make sense for so much pain and pain to continue. “

Houston police chief Troy Finner told reporters Saturday that Briscoe and the other bosses were complying with the thieves’ demands when one of the assailants began firing. Briscoe and his Zulu member Dyrin Riculfy were beaten, officials said.

The attackers fled, apparently without stealing anything, in a gray or silver Nissan Altima with paper license plates.

Finner said officers searched Houston for the thieves and their escape vehicle, and urged the public to submit any information that could help investigators make arrests.

“I won’t let … little thugs run our city,” Finner said. “It simply came to our notice then. It doesn’t make sense. “

Detectives spent hours on the scene Saturday night, but apparently the restaurant was back to normal on Sunday afternoon. A sign announcing “brunch and bullbly” and a steady stream of diners climbed up to a valet parking lot to park.

Outside, there were no signs in the enclosed courtyard area of ​​a shooting the day before, but the sofas and chairs around a water fountain were empty. A manager there referred a journalist to a corporate office for comment.

Next to Interstate 610, the restaurant overlooks the Galleria Mall and two five-star hotels. Darryl O’Neal, a security guard who was not working in the grotto when the shooting occurred, said Sunday that the restaurant attracts dedicated regulars, out-of-town tourists and families celebrating quinceañeras.

“That something like this happened was very unexpected,” he said.

AJ Hernandez, who lives nearby, agreed. “You can walk a block or two around here and there are $ 5 million homes,” Hernandez said.

Back home, when news of life subsided, Briscoe’s extended family across the NOPD and the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club gathered to comfort the widow and the two children she leaves behind. Hundreds had gathered in the two buildings in Zulu and around North Broad Street and Orleans Avenue on Sunday evening to pray around the music, and the night culminated with a second parade.

Briscoe attended Southern University in Baton Rouge and even performed with the world-famous band Human Jukebox. He worked as a Cox Communications technician for a few years before joining the NOPD in 2008.

There, he worked twice investigating reported crimes in the first district of the NOPD, which includes Treme and Mid-City. These periods were divided by a tour of the murder investigation as a detective in the homicide investigation unit, the vanguard of the city’s constant battle against violent crime. Among his accomplishments was a unity appointment won in 2016.

Ferguson, however, said Sunday that he will remember most of Briscoe for helping community leaders organize local children’s events. And he said he will forever maintain a simple act of kindness that Briscoe showed him after a hurricane before his races.

Ferguson, who had been losing energy for days, casually commented that he should have gotten a gas generator. The next day, Briscoe picked him up at a house, took him to a hardware store to buy a new generator, and took him home from the boss and helped him install it.

“If you have a need, he would give you the clothes off your back,” Ferguson said, calling the fallen officer a personal friend.

Briscoe had just finished his class schedule for a fall semester at Southern University in New Orleans, and Ferguson said Briscoe hoped his pursuit of a degree in criminal justice would inspire his children (ages 10 and 16). years) to strive for academic excellence.

Banks shared a heartbreaking conversation he had the night before with Briscoe’s widow, Terrell Briscoe, who asked who would teach his children how to tie ties now that their father had disappeared.

“The only answer I wanted to hear is,‘ Everett will walk through the door, ’” Banks said. “But it’s not.”

“Please pray for her,” he continued. “Please pray for your boys. Please pray for this whole community and this whole country.”

Note: This post was updated to include details of Riculfy’s identity.