Suspect allegedly knew Bares was a police officer before shooting him

Allen Bares Jr. identified himself as a Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s deputy prior to being shot and killed Monday afternoon.
Quintylan Richard, 20, and Baylon Taylor, 19, are charged with 1st Degree Murder in connection to Bares’ death.
The Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office, Louisiana State Police and other agencies held a joint press conference Tuesday afternoon in Abbeville to discuss information on the case.
“From the suspect’s own admission, Deputy Bares identified himself as a police officer prior to being shot,” Louisiana State Police Trooper First Class Stephen Hammons said during the press conference.
Officials responding Monday around 4 p.m. to a call regarding suspicious activity made by Bares, who was on his day off, found him shot multiple times. Hammons said Bares was transported to Abbeville General Hospital, where he later died as a result of his injuries.
“Deputy Bares was on his day off near the intersection of Hospital Drive and Cougar Drive, just south of Abbeville,” Hammons said. “He noticed something suspicious in the area. He stepped up and contacted the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office. He requested they send deputies to his location to investigate the incident.
“When the deputies arrived at the scene, they located Deputy Bares, who had been shot multiple times.”
Along with murder, Richard and Taylor also face burglary charges. Hammons said investigators learned of that after taking the two suspects into custody. The residence reportedly involved in the burglary was in sight of where officials found Bares shot.
“That is very possible that it was the burglary,” Hammons said of what prompted Bares to make a call of suspicious activity. “As far as their (Richard and Taylor) involvement, there’s still a lot of things we are going to try to work out, not only from these individuals, but from any potential witnesses in the area.
“We are going to put together a time line.”
Hammons said the investigation “very much” remains ongoing.
“A lot of moving parts were going on (Monday),” Hammons said. “There are many things we are still trying to get answers to.”
Officer did find a crashed Lexus near the scene.
“How that vehicle crashed and its involvement is another part that our investigators are looking into,” Hammons said. “There are certainly a lot of questions and we are still in our initial stages of the investigation.”
Richard and Taylor reportedly left the scene in Bares’ personal vehicle. After a search by multiple agencies, the vehicle was located a short time later in south Abbeville.
“Deputies and officers from all over began to set up a perimeter on the south side of Abbeville,” Hammons said. “The search went into the night and took several man hours. During the night, Taylor was contacted by the Vermilion Sheriff’s Office and they were able to talk him into turning himself in.”
The search for Richard continued.
“Through multiple agencies, it was learned that Richard was located in Kaplan,” Hammons said. “He was subsequently taken into custody.”
He was arrested just after midnight on Tuesday.
Richard is allegedly the suspect who shot Bares. Hammons said the suspect used an unidentified handgun.
“We were able to do some tests during the interrogation,” Hammons said of how state police came to that information about who shot Bares.
What took place during the moments before Bares was shot remains unknown at this point. Hammons said police are going on nothing other than fact.
“What we have right now is that he identified himself as a police officer and a shooting took place,” Hammons said. “That is the best we can say right now with certainty. There is a lot of speculation and there will be a lot of rumors that are involved with situations like this. We are not going to go off rumor. We are going to deal with fact.”