(by Darren Svan and The Center Square) – A Shreveport business owner included in a Center Square story last month about safety concerns in downtown narrowly avoided being struck by gunfire early Sunday morning at a shooting incident where a man was killed by police after he shot an officer.

Shreveport police say the man killed, whose name has not been released, pulled out a gun and shot an officer, who returned fire hitting the man multiple times. The incident occurred in an alleyway near Texas and Spring streets.

Louisiana State Police are currently investigating the incident. The officer was taken to the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, according to Shreveport police.

Tim Huck, who owns the Sandbar on Spring Street and other downtown properties, was at the scene next to the officer when she attempted to break up a fight between several men.

“The whole incident happened in four seconds,” Huck told The Center Square. “She pulls the first person off, grabs the second guy, pulling him off of the guy on the ground, and as she pulls him off, the guy comes up and shoots her.

“He was shooting wildly. I wouldn’t say he was shooting directly at me. He was shooting at anyone in the vicinity, and the bullets just were flying my way because I was in the vicinity,” he said. The officer’s “actions were exceptional.”

None of the men involved in Sunday’s shooting were in the Sandbar establishment, Huck said.

Huck and other property and business owners are part of a broader conversation about downtown safety as the city is developing a revitalization plan. The city is working with Retail Strategies to develop a five-year strategic plan.

Property owners and downtown advocates interviewed by The Center Square for that story share a repeated observation – plans to revitalize downtown are unlikely to succeed without changing a perception that it’s unsafe.

Sunday’s shooting could be a setback for public sentiment.

The Center Square spoke to public safety consulting firm Safe Night, which focuses on building partnerships among police, public health, the business community, faith-based organizations and nonprofit groups to address crime, homelessness and nightlife violence in entertainment districts.

The firm’s founders, retired police officer Dimitrios Mastoras and licensed counselor Molly Mastoras, have reached out to city leaders with a prevention strategy called the proactive alliance, used in communities like Arlington, Norfolk, Wichita and Fort Worth.

Safe Night is a Connecticut-based public safety consulting firm that partners with Rutgers University researchers and has worked with the U.S. Department of Justice on evidence-based policing and community safety initiatives, according to the company.

“We believe in this work and that it’s going to be the most consequential work for the next 30 years,” Mastoras said. “Vibrancy cannot exist without safety.”

According to Mastoras, devoting personnel and financial resources without understanding or insight into the cause is not efficient and doesn’t serve the community.

“If you don’t think of these issues further than police and fire, then you’re not going to do anything in a coordinated way,” he said. “It’s complicated work that requires work and discipline beyond just the police.”

According to Mastoras , flooding the zone with an increased police presence after a flare up — a shooting or teen takeover — doesn’t address the cause or develop a prevention strategy based on collective problem analysis. Safe Night helps cities implement a model founded on a relationship-based approach.

That approach involves workable solutions created when housing, police, fire, municipal agencies, the court system and community service providers align themselves to develop a unified strategy that addresses homelessness and reduces crime and disorder.

“We are apolitical,” he said. “Our only concern is what’s good for everyone and what works.”

City governments are not set up to handle big, complex problems like homelessness, Mastoras said.

Cities have funded Safe Night through several methods –  a federal Bureau of Justice grant in Wichita; a special tax district on the business community in Forth Worth; a business improvement district in Norfolk; and private money that partnered with a nonprofit organization in Dallas.

According to the company, their “Proactive Alliance Homeless Outreach Model” was featured at the 2024 International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in Boston, while the National Alliance to End Homelessness has also recognized their work in addressing homelessness.

“Collaborative problem solving is what matters most for drops in violence and homelessness,” Mastoras  said.