The Opelousas, Louisiana chief of police used a Monday night community meeting to flex the achievements of his department, pledging deeper involvement and more safety in the city after months of fallout from his involvement in a shooting.

City residents found standing room only Monday night at Opelousas City Hall for the Opelousas Police Department’s new quarterly community engagement meeting — an effort purportedly aimed at increasing transparency and accountability between citizens and the department.

Opelousas Chief of Police Graig LeBlanc used the opportunity to go over improvements his department has made, answer prewritten questions and take a handful of audience questions. He has refused calls to resign.

The meeting was the chief’s first major public speaking appearance since the Dec. 22 shooting that left him and his wife, Crystal LeBlanc injured. The shooting took place after his wife confronted him at the home of an Opelousas police officer, with whom he admitted having an extramarital affair.

Officer Savannah Butler produced a gun during the confrontation, shooting LeBlanc in the hand and his wife in the arm.

No citizens brought up the incident at the Monday meeting.

Butler turned herself into the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office in early January and faces charges- related to the shooting of two counts of negligent injury, one count of illegal discharge of a firearm and obstruction of justice, our previous reporting said. Another OPD officer, Tyrone Abrams was arrested on principle to obstruction of justice and malfeasance in office for allegedly helping Abrams destroy evidence after the shooting.

LeBlanc turned himself into the sheriff’s office in late January and faces charges of obstruction of justice, malfeasance in office and failure to seek assistance, previous reporting said. All are felony charges. The chief was described in the video footage as allegedly leaving his wife behind in the vehicle suffering from a bullet wound to go back inside Butler’s home, the sheriff office said press release. LeBlanc was heard allegedly telling his wife not to call authorities about the incident, the sheriff’s office said.

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