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SULPHUR, La. (AP) — A man who exchanged gunfire with sheriff's deputies after fatally shooting his wife in southwest Louisiana died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.
Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso initially said investigators were trying to determine if Cody A. McAdams, 38, shot and killed himself or was fatally wounded by a sheriff's deputy after he opened fire on another deputy in the parish's Carlyss community around 8:30 a.m. Thursday. Mancuso said the deputies weren't injured.
Deputies were responding to separate burglary and trespassing calls from different homes in the area when they encountered McAdams in a field outside the home of his estranged wife's parents, where a resident reported the trespassing, Mancuso said. Brandi McAdams, 33, and their 5-year-old daughter had been living with her parents, according to a news release issued Thursday evening from the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's office.
Authorities believe McAdams tried to kidnap his wife and daughter with a gun from her parent's house and all three were in the pasture behind the house when homeowners called the police, the release said. When deputies arrived McAdams shot his wife and then shot at deputies.
Mancuso said that McAdams, of Kirbyville, Texas, fired at least three shots at a deputy in his vehicle, leaving holes in a window.
"I don't know how he didn't get hit," he added. "If you see the holes and where he was sitting, it's really amazing."
Another deputy fired a single shot at McAdams, grazing his arm, after he began shooting, Mancuso said.
The coroner determined McAdams died from self-inflicted gunshot, the release said.
Mancuso said Brandi McAdams, was pronounced dead at the scene, while their daughter was unharmed and is now with other relatives.
Mancuso refused to identify the races of the gunman or the deputy who shot at him.
"That's not pertinent to the investigation," he said.
The Louisiana State Police is investigating the gunman's shooting, while the sheriff's office is investigating the woman's death.
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