PORT NECHES, Texas — A 53-year-old man is in a Southeast Texas hospital and a 29-year-old woman is dead after police say they were shot by a man, who was then fatally shot by an officer, at a Port Neches trailer park Wednesday night.
Laurie Marie Frederick, 29, of Port Neches, was pronounced dead at the scene according to police and her father, Kevin Troy Frederick, 53, was wounded and taken to a Southeast Texas hospital.
Police believe Ronald Dunigan Burdine, 56, of Nederland, who was later shot and killed by an officer, is who shot Laurie and Kevin Frederick.
A 13-year-old girl, who is Laurie Frederick's step-daughter, was in the trailer during the shootings but was not injured police said.
A Port Neches Police officer was sent to a trailer at Lloyd’s RV Park at 350 Twin City Highway just after 8 p.m. Wednesday night for a report of shots being fired according to a Thursday morning news release from police chief Paul Lemoine.
A caller told police they had heard two shots and a woman screaming.
When the officer got there, he saw Kevin Troy Frederick, 53, who was wounded, on the ground. As he got out of his patrol car to help the man, Burdine came out of the trailer with a gun and fired one shot at the officer, Lemoine said in the release.
The officer took cover as other officers arrived and Burdine went back into the trailer. The trailer park is surrounded by a neighborhood and is not far from the Pompano Club.
Two officers then used a ballistic shield and went to help Kevin Troy Frederick, according to Lemoine.
They were able to pull Kevin Frederick to safety but as they were Burdine came out of the trailer again and pointed a gun at the two officers.
A third officer, who was providing cover fore the officers fatally shot Burdine.
"To shoot at the officers and the cover officer gave the commands to put his weapon down. He raised it up to engage the other officer, and he had to take action to stop that," Chief Lemoine said.
When officers got to the man at the trailer they discovered that Burdine was dead and then found the body of Laurie Marie Frederick, 29, of Port Neches, who had been shot inside the trailer according to the release.
Kevin Frederick was last reported to be in stable condition after undergoing surgery according to the release.
Burdine and both victims knew each other and police say the shooting was related to some sort of “domestic situation.”
Police have not said what the relationship was among the Burdine and his two victims or the 13-year-old girl.
District Attorney Bob Wortham says after any officer-involved shooting their is a protocol to follow, which includes the Texas Rangers coming to investigate.
"We don't want any of the local law enforcement to do it. We want the Texas Rangers to do it, because they are an outside source," he said.
Wortham says that type of deadly force may have saved lives.
"He has to use the force he did because to protect the innocent people that are around. Because this guy wasn't gonna stop, he absolutely was not going to stop," Wortham said.
Crime scene technicians from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office processed the crime scene and are assisting in the investigation Lemoine said.
Jefferson County Precinct Two Justice of the Peace Mark Derouen conducted the inquest on the scene of the two that were killed.
The officer who shot fatally shot Burdine man has been placed on paid leave pending the outcome of the investigation, which is standard procedure the release said.
This is the second officer-involved shooting for the small department in the last three months.
Two other Port Neches officers were cleared and are back on duty after they fatally shot a man on July 5, 2022, at the Merriman Square Townhomes.
In that shooting, Trevon Hull, 21, attempted to get away from the officers in a stolen vehicle but crashed into a patrol unit before getting out of the car with a gun and being fatally shot by the two officers police said.
Before the July shooting the department had not had an officer-involved shooting in about 30 years.
“I hate it for the officers, of course, having to go through those situations,” Lemoine told 12News.
The two officers involved were placed on leave and went through debriefing and therapy following the shooting he said.
A Jefferson County grand jury no billed the two officers almost a month after the shooting, clearing them from any possible charges.
“This isn’t something that any officer ever looks forward to doing,” Lemoine said.
There have been 20 officer-involved shootings in Southeast Texas in the last five years.
Here’s a break-down by city…
- Beaumont - 8
- Kountze - 1
- Nederland - 1
- Port Arthur - 3
- Port Neches - 2
- Silsbee - 2
- Sour Lake - 3
Hull’s mother, Michelle Minix, said she knows her son made mistakes, but says she still has questions about his July death.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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