Officer who fired fatal shot in Alonzo Bagley case has been subject of 3 internal affairs investigations since Sept. ‘21

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - Arrested on a single charge of negligent homicide and facing a federal civil rights lawsuit in the shooting death of an unarmed man, KSLA is now learning more about Officer Alexander Tyler’s time with the Shreveport Police Department.

Tyler, a 23-year-old Shreveport police officer, shot and killed Alonzo Bagley during a short foot chase Feb. 3 at Villa Norté Apartments, where Bagley lived. Immediately following that deadly officer-involved shooting, KSLA Chief Investigative Reporter Stacey Cameron started digging into Tyler’s personnel file with the department.

[GRAPHIC WARNING: Body cam footage released in officer-involved shooting death of Alonzo Bagley]

Officer Tyler has been with SPD less than two years, getting sworn into the department and receiving his badge back in September of 2021. In that time, according to department records turned over to KSLA on Monday, Feb. 20, Tyler has been the subject of three internal affairs investigations. He was cleared in one and found to be in violation of departmental policy in the other two.

INCIDENT 1

The first internal affairs investigation came out of an incident that happened back in March of 2022. A woman complained that Tyler and six other officers improperly detained several minor children, questioned them without an adult and searched her home without a warrant. Bodycam footage of the incident was released to KSLA. In this case, SPD internal affairs cleared Tyler and the other officers of any wrongdoing.

INCIDENT 2

In the second investigation, which also happened in 2022, KSLA reviewed dash cam video. Officer Tyler was involved in a high-speed chase that began near the Louisiana State Fair Grounds. He reportedly was chasing a suspect who failed to stop for a modified exhaust. During the chase, Officer Tyler reached a speed of 132 mph. He passed at least one car at a high rate of speed on the shoulder of the interstate, and eventually chased the car down Pines Road while going over 100 mph. He then continued the chase down I-220, topping 130 mph again. Tyler did not catch the suspect. And while a supervisor did not tell Tyler to stop the chase, Tyler was found to have violated SPD’s pursuit policy because the suspect wasn’t considered a present danger to human life. Tyler was written up for this incident.

DASH CAM VIDEO

INCIDENT 3

The third incident again involved Tyler’s driving. This time, internal affairs investigated this August 2022 accident. It was allegedly caused by Tyler speeding down Broadway Avenue. According to the report, Officer Tyler was driving 63 mph in a 35-mph zone when he hit an SUV. Two passengers in the car that Officer Tyler hit were taken to the hospital. So was Tyler; he had a bloody face and was pulled, dazed and confused, from his vehicle by a fellow officer. The internal affairs investigation found Tyler violated the department’s policy on professionalism for speeding. He was placed on administrative leave and suspended for 15 days without pay back in December of 2022.

DASH CAM VIDEO

Officer Tyler was placed on administrative leave after the fatal shooting of Bagley. For the negligent homicide charge, Tyler faces up to five years in prison if convicted; he is currently out on bond.

KSLA has learned there is one more incident in Officer Tyler’s personnel file that has not yet been made public record because the investigation process is not yet complete and there is potential for criminal litigation.

Upon viewing KSLA News 12′s report on these matters Monday, Feb. 20, the Bagley family was angered to learn that all this happened in less than two years on the force.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, Feb. 21, KSLA Chief Investigative Reporter Stacey Cameron spoke with the family’s attorney, Ron Haley, who believes Tyler’s behavioral record with SPD should change the nature of the criminal charges he faces in the shooting death of Alonzo Bagley.

“The first thing that jumps out at me is that this officer engages in what I would say in the least is risky behavior and that he willfully engages in these things,” Haley said. “And I think the district attorney’s office really needs to take a strong look at increasing the charges on Alexander Tyler based on what I saw in the personnel file.”

CAMERON: “And when you say that, do you think that would potentially change what you feel the charge should be from negligent homicide to possibly a manslaughter charge?”

HALEY: “Yes, I believe that should strongly be considered by the district attorney’s office. And I’m going to express that publicly not just today on your news station, but I plan on having a meeting with the Caddo Parish district attorney and express these concerns right now.”

After reviewing the parts of Tyler’s personnel file that were made public, Haley told KSLA News 12 that he now has serious questions concerning Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith’s judgment in not removing Tyler from the force earlier.

Last Thursday, Chief Smith told reporters that Tyler had previously been reprimanded for getting violent with a suspect. And Tyler had a disciplinary hearing scheduled for Feb. 7 on a use-of-force complaint that was postponed after he fatally shot Bagley on Feb. 3.

In light of these revelations, Haley said he will be amending the federal civil rights lawsuit that the family filed against Officer Tyler to include the Shreveport Police Department and the city as defendants for negligent hiring and negligent supervision.

As a result of a public records request, KSLA obtained the following records from Officer Tyler’s personnel file:

Copyright 2023 KSLA. All rights reserved.