Man Accused Of Shooting Westwego Police Officer & Woman On Bridge (WATCH)

The man accused of shooting the Westwego Police Officer is on a bridge threatening to jump. (WATCH the events unfold in the video above)

MARRERO, La. (AP) — The Latest on the shooting of a police officer in a town outside New Orleans (all times local):

2:15 p.m.

The off-duty police officer who was shot and killed in a New Orleans suburb was a U.S. Marine who served in Afghanistan before he embarked on a career in law enforcement.

Westwego Police Chief Dwayne Munch says the slain officer, 26-year-old Michael Louviere, joined the department in July 2015 and "finished first in everything" in his police academy class of roughly 20 recruits.

Munch says Louviere, a married father of a 4-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son, was a dedicated family man with a strong worth ethic and was a "rising star" on the police force.

Authorities say Louviere was shot in the head after he stopped to help at an accident scene Friday morning on his way home from work. The same man suspected of killing the officer also allegedly shot and killed the woman Louviere was helping.

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1:35 p.m.

The sheriff's office in a New Orleans suburb has released the name of a woman shot to death with an off-duty police officer.

Col. John Fortunato, a spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, says 32-year-old Simone Veal died from multiple gunshot wounds.

The attacker also killed an off-duty Westwego police officer who was trying to help her Friday morning.

The bridge from New Orleans' main section to a small part of the city across the Mississippi River is closed because a man is on a girder outside and below the roadway. Authorities say it may be related to the search for a 32-year-old man wanted for questioning in the double shooting.

He's identified as Sylvester Holt, who was released from jail Jan. 7 after prosecutors declined to bring a rape charge against him.

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12:45 p.m.

Authorities searching for a suspect in the killing of a police officer say they have closed off traffic because a man is standing on a girder below the railing of a bridge in New Orleans.

Assistant Gretna Police Chief Anthony Christiana told The New Orleans Advocate (http://bit.ly/2jHRKH3 ) that he'd been told the incident on the bridge might be related to the deaths of a woman and the off-duty Westwego police officer Friday morning.

The bridge was closed, backing up traffic for miles. Helicopters circled the area, and police cars swarmed.

Col. John Fortunato, spokesman for the sheriff in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, said he had not been able to confirm whether the man on the bridge is 32-year-old Sylvester Holt, who's wanted for questioning in the deaths.

He says Holt was released from jail Jan. 7 after prosecutors declined to bring a rape charge against him.

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12:15 p.m.

Authorities say a man wanted for questioning in the deaths of a Louisiana police officer and another person was released from jail on Jan. 7 after prosecutors declined to prosecute him for rape.

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office spokesman 32-year-old Sylvester Holt was released after prosecutors said they could not bring a rape charge against him due to "lack of witness participation."

Col. John Fortunato also said several women had restraining orders against Holt.

Authorities say Westwego Officer Michael Louviere was off-duty and had stopped to help at an accident scene when he was shot in the head. A woman was shot to death. Her name has not been released. However, Sheriff Newell Normand has told news media she had been romantically involved with Holt.

Fortunato says Louviere was married and had a 4-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son, and his brother is a New Orleans police officer.

10:45 a.m.

Louisiana authorities say that a police officer and a woman he was helping have been shot and killed.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand told local media that Officer Michael Louviere of Westwego was killed in a shooting in neighboring Marrero.

Louviere was 26.

A woman was also killed in the shooting outside of Visitation of Our Lady School, located just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. Normand says police are looking for 32-year-old Sylvester Holt, who was romantically involved with her.

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10 a.m.

Authorities say a police officer and a woman have been shot outside a school just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans.

Col. John Fortunato, a spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, said the officer from Westwego was shot Friday in the neighboring town of Marrero. There was no immediate word on either his condition or the woman's.

Archdiocese of New Orleans spokeswoman Sarah Comiskey McDonald says it happened outside Visitation of Our Lady School. She says the sheriff's office must answer all other questions, including whether the woman was a school employee.

The school teaches pre-kindergarten through seventh grade students.

A message on its Facebook page said an incident Friday morning disrupted the school day, and children could be dropped off but all absences would be excused. It also said that a sixth-grade field trip had been canceled and all tests, quizzes and assignments would be postponed.

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9 a.m.

Abdallah Aballah works at a gas station near where a police officer was shot, just cross the river from New Orleans. He said a woman ran in about 6:30 a.m. Friday screaming for someone to call 911.

He said he and some customers made calls. Aballah says he heard two shots, and customers ran outside.

Col. John Fortunato, a spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, says a Westwego police officer was shot and that a woman also was shot in the same incident, which happened in Marrero, just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans.

There's no immediate word on the condition of the officer or the woman.

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7:45 a.m.

A spokesman says a police officer has been shot in a town outside New Orleans.

Col. John Fortunato, a spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, said in a short statement Friday morning that they had an "officer down incident" in which a Westwego police officer was shot.

He says a female victim was also shot in the same incident, which happened in Marrero, just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans.

There was no information on the condition of the officer or the victim.