Senior PO Trevor Abney
Officer: New Orleans Police Department, Senior Police Officer Trevor Abney
Date: 4/9/2023 Location: New Orleans, LA FACTORS (1,2,4,6,7,8,15)
Perpetrator(s) Involved: Donnell Linwood Hassell
Criminal Activity History/Involved: None reported other than traffic violations. / Yes, Hassell ambushed the officers, shooting them with his handgun.
Mental Illness: Yes, Hassell was lodged in the jail’s mental health ward and he has pled “not guilty by reason of insanity.”
Substance Abuse History/Involved: None reported. / Unknown.
Race/Sex/Age: Black/Male/44
What prompted the initial contact with the killer? At around 4:30 p.m. on October 30, 2020, New Orleans Senior Police Officer Trevor Abney and his partner, Police Officer Brooke Duncan IV were in their marked police SUV patrolling the French Quarter.
Actions taken by subject toward police: As the pedicab he was in was passing the officers in their marked police SUV, Donnell Hassell opened fire on the officers with a .40 caliber handgun. SPO Abney was struck in the face with one of the twelve bullets and PO Duncan was cut by glass shards from the shattering windshield.
Reactions by the police: SPO Abney and PO Duncan were rushed to the hospital. Other officers were advised of Hassell’s location from eyewitnesses and quickly captured him after a foot pursuit.
How murdered? SPO Abney was ambushed while on patrol, he survived for several years with the bullet lodged in his brain until ultimately dying from it on April 9, 2023.
What could have been done differently for the officer to still be alive? Nothing, the officers were ambushed by a complete stranger without any prior interaction.
Would the officer have been justified in using deadly force before being murdered? The officers were ambushed and never had a chance to defend themselves.
Outcome for the cop-killer: Hassell was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer – charges which are expected to be upgraded after SPO Abney died from the injuries he sustained during that attack.
Miscellaneous: This targeted intentional murder of a police officer that was merely sitting in his patrol SUV is a consequence of the constant demonization of law enforcement by progressive politicians and a biased press. It is not surprising that after repeatedly being portrayed as murdering black people, a black mentally ill combat veteran saw the police as the enemy and ambushed them.
