Police: 4 dead after Louisiana shootings; 3 injured

This undated photo provided by the Lafourche Parish sheriff's sffice in Louisiana shows Ben Freeman, the suspect in an attack Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013, that involved his former in-laws and the head of a hospital where he'd worked, authorities said.
This undated photo provided by the Lafourche Parish sheriff's sffice in Louisiana shows Ben Freeman, the suspect in an attack Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013, that involved his former in-laws and the head of a hospital where he'd worked, authorities said.

RACELAND, La. — A south Louisiana man attacked his former in-laws, his current wife, and the head of a hospital where he'd worked, killing three before killing himself, authorities said.

The shootings happened at four locations in two parishes about 45 miles southwest of New Orleans on Thursday. The first report came about 6:40 p.m., when Lafourche Parish Councilman Louis Phillip Gouaux, who was shot in the throat, called 911 from his home in Lockport, Houma, La., newspaper The Courier reported.

The suspect, Ben Freeman, 38, was the ex-husband of Gouaux's daughter Jeanne, Lafourche Parish sheriff's office spokesman Brennan Matherne said in a news release.

Gouaux's wife, Susan "Pixie" Gouaux, was dead when deputies arrived, Matherne said. Louis Phillip Gouaux and his daughter, Andrea Gouaux, were injured and taken to University Hospital in New Orleans. Both were in critical but stable condition, Matherne said.

About 20 minutes later in Raceland, Ochsner St. Anne General Hospital administrator Milton Bourgeois was shot and killed at close range at his home, Matherne said. His wife, Ann Bourgeois, was shot and taken to the New Orleans hospital, where she was listed in stable condition.

Raceland police said Bourgeois was shot at close range and his wife was shot in the leg.

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