One killed after armed men burst into home

Josey1

One killed after armed men burst into home 12/02/01From Times-Picayune staff reportsTwo men with guns burst into the home of three Avondale residents early Saturday in a bizarre incident that ended with one gunman dead and the other wanted by police, authorities said. No other injuries were reported.Titus White, 24, was left to die outside the Marie Drive house from a gunshot wound to the abdomen shortly before 4 a.m., authorities said. His last known address was in Avondale, a spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said.Detectives said White entered the home carrying a handgun with a second man who was armed with a shotgun and wearing a ski mask. The shotgun-toter forced the three relatives who lived there -- a 54-year-old man and two teen-agers -- into a den.White, meanwhile, went upstairs, and the second gunman followed. A shot was heard, and then the unidentified gunman dragged White's body down the stairs, dropped him in the street and fled, said Col. John Fortunato of the Sheriff's Office. Investigators found White's handgun in a hallway upstairs but wouldn't comment further."We don't know yet what transpired when the suspects went upstairs," Fortunato said.White was pronounced dead at the scene. The second suspect was still on the loose Saturday evening.The man who lives at the home said he didn't believe it was a robbery attempt. Instead, it appeared that White was on the run from the second gunman and randomly picked the house as an escape route, he said.But the man didn't know what happened upstairs or who dragged the body outside. "It wasn't me," he said.Fortunato wouldn't comment on the man's theory, and no additional details on the case were available Saturday. The Sheriff's Office asks anyone with information to call 364-5300. http://www.nola.com/crime/t-p/index.ssf?/crimestory/murder02.html