Shreveport officer who was fatally shot has been identified

A recently graduated Louisiana police officer has been fatally shot as she was leaving for work on the night shift.

Shreveport Police Chief Ben Raymond said Officer Chateri Payne, 22, who had just graduated from the police academy on Nov. 16, was shot outside a home Wednesday night.

Raymond said a child was at the residence but he doesn't know what, if anything, the child saw.

Speaking at a live-streamed news conference, Raymond said it's too early to know the motive, and a witness detained for questioning Wednesday was not arrested.

He called Payne's death "senseless" and "tragic".

KSLA reported Payne as a mother and former track star. Being an officer was a dream come true.

“Long days, aching nights, but I decided to stand tall on my dream," Payne wrote on Facebook after her graduation. “It is an honor to be able to join such a powerful family with my brothers and sisters in blue. May the journey begin.”