The coroner's office said a man who was involved in a shootout with New Orleans police and Louisiana State Police troopers Sunday died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, reports WDSU.
Orleans Parish Coroner Jeffrey Rouse released his findings Tuesday on the autopsy into the death of Bernie Porche, 37. He died Sunday during a shootout in the Seventh Ward that also left a state trooper injured with a gunshot wound.
Porche was identified as the suspect who ran out of a vehicle that police said was stolen from the Fifth District. Porche was with two other men, who have not been located since Sunday's shooting.
Police said Porche shot a state trooper when he was tracked down in the 1900 block of Hope Street. The trooper returned fire after he was shot, but Porche got away.
New Orleans Police Chief Michael Harrison said Porche was found by a group of police officers and state troopers at Law and New Orleans streets. Porche opened fire, and the officers returned fire, striking him, police said.
Rouse said Porche was shot three times. Dash camera video from patrol vehicles showed the suspect fired his weapon at officers as he ran. The officers returned fire from a distance, Rouse said.
Rouse said autopsy evidence led him to determine that the fatal gunshot, the third wound, is consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He said the wound entered the right side of Porche's head and exited on the left.
Porche's death has been initially classified as a suicide. He said the video evidence and the autopsy evidence is consistent with a self-inflicted wound.
