Louisiana man charged with murder in shooting of U.S. marshal

A Louisiana man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a deputy U.S. marshal who, along with other officers, responded to his residence after he failed to appear at a trial in which he faced sexual battery charges. 

Clarence A. Frazier Jr., 48, of Alexandria, Louisiana, could face a maximum sentence of life in prison or the death penalty if convicted, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana. 

Frazier has been federally charged with one count of murder of a federal officer in the death of Drew Hanson, the deputy U.S. marshal. The district attorney’s office said Hanson was struck by gunfire while trying to apprehend Frazier on July 13, after Frazier barricaded himself in his bedroom and began shooting at the officers who had come to his home.

Hanson is survived by a wife and two children, the U.S. Marshal’s Service said.

Authorities filed a complaint against him after he was taken into custody Monday, based on an FBI agent’s affidavit, and a federal magistrate unsealed the complaint Tuesday.

Acting U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche said in a statement that Frazier would be “held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

A federal public defender representing Frazier did not immediately respond to telephone and email messages seeking comment.

Marshals and sheriff’s detectives entered Frazier’s home Monday to serve an arrest warrant for contempt of court and found him in a bedroom, the FBI agent, James Rimmer, said in his affidavit. According to other authorities, Frazier shot at the officers and fatally wounded Hanson.

He then barricaded himself in the bedroom and was arrested after a standoff, Rimmer said.

Frazier had a trial scheduled to start that day in Rapides Parish District Court in a case filed by prosecutors in 2024, according to online court records. He was charged with one count of third-degree rape, punishable by up to 25 years in prison, and one count of sexual battery on a person with infirmities, punishable by up to 20 years, according to court records.

Frazier was a registered sex offender, according to an online list maintained by the local sheriff’s department, though it did not provide details about his previous conviction.