Funeral services set for slain Hancock County deputy killed in the line of duty
The funeral service of slain Hancock County Sheriff’s Lt. Michael Anthony Boutte is set for Tuesday in Bay St. Louis, his family and the funeral home said Thursday.
The service begins with visitation from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Bay St. Louis community center at 301 Blaize Ave., with a memorial service following at 11:30 a.m.
Internment will follow with a law enforcement escort to the Biloxi National Cemetery in honor of the Air Force combat veteran and member of the U.S. Marine Reserves.
The service will be live streamed on the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page.
Boutte had a 20-year law enforcement career that included work at the Picayune Police Department, the Picayune School District Police, and at the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office where he served in the rural area along with a stint in Diamondhead.
Boutte, his friends and colleagues said, always had a smile on his face even on Monday when he stepped out of his patrol car and a man fatally shot him.
Boutte was the first deputy to arrive at a home on Earl C. Ladner Road on Monday in response to a reported suicide attempt.
Joseph Michael Rohrbacker, 30, shot Boutte shortly after he responded to the call at the home Rohrbacker shared with his wife, Shannon Rohrbacker.
Boutte was struck by multiple rounds of buckshot fired from 12-gauge shotgun and died a short time later at a New Orleans hospital.
A second officer arrived at the scene and, in an exchange of gunfire, shot and injured Rohrbacker.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is handling the investigation. Sheriff Ricky Adam said Rohrbacker had undergone three surgeries since he was shot but was expected to recover.
Lockett Williams Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
This story was originally published February 4, 2021 at 9:34 AM.
