A 23-year-old woman was arrested for attempted murder by the New Orleans Police Department.
According to court filings, Kia Simmons, a registered security guard working at the New Orleans Library main branch on Loyola Avenue, opened fire on Henry Mark at about 5:20 p.m. Saturday.
According to the source, it all started when Mark and Simmons got into a fight.
According to the report made by the New Orleans Police Department, after being forced to leave, Mark tossed his cell phone at Simmons. Simmons allegedly then punched Mark twice.
The rest of what the report states happened before the shooting is supported by video, which shows Mark throwing a brick at Simmons before she pulls her gun and begins to fire.
According to the report of the New Orleans Police Department, Simmons shot two Tulane police vehicles and Mark was injured quote “mostly in the back.”
According to the report, Simmons answered the question of how many times she fired in an interview with the representatives from the New Orleans Police Department by responding, “Too many.”
Simmons was detained by the New Orleans Police Department and is now facing accusations of attempted second-degree murder, illegal use of weapons, and a variety of other offenses.
She is being held on bail of $282,500.
According to court documents, this is not Simmons’ first run-in with the law.
She was arrested in 2018 for criminal mischief and disturbing the peace, but the charges were dropped by then-District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro.
In February 2021, she was detained again by the New Orleans Police Department on allegations of domestic abuse battery, but the charges were dismissed by current DA Jason Williams.
Simmons was arrested again four months later, in June 2021, on a charge of cruelty to a juvenile, but the accusations were reduced to a lesser charge and he was not charged with a crime.
“Specifically in New Orleans, this is the third security officer-involved shooting in four months,” Carl Saizan, executive secretary of the Louisiana State Board of Private Security Examiners, stated.
All security officers in the state are certified by the LSBPSE.
Saizan was appointed to his position in January of this year, and he claims to be working on a massive revamp of the state’s training system, which he claims hasn’t been updated since 1985.
Saizan says he is looking at other states’ curricula as well as consulting with the New Orleans Police Department and security firms on what they believe should be added.
Mark was classified in critical condition at a nearby hospital at the time of the latest update by the New Orleans Police Department.