Details Released in Ambush That Wounded Alabama Police Officer
Key Highlights
- The couple was heavily armed, surrendered after their plans were thwarted, and face multiple serious charges including attempted murder.
- They were held on a record-high $3.1 million cash-only bonds, an unusual measure reflecting the severity of the incident.
- Investigation reveals the couple was secluded, rarely leaving their home, with motives still unknown, prompting ongoing inquiries into their background.
MOBILE, Alabama -- Justin Senia and Arielle Perreault lured Mobile police officers to their house on Tuscaloosa Street Sunday morning by firing a gunshot outside their home.
When police arrived, the couple fired more than 50 rounds at police. One of those officers, Lt. Lorenzo Matthews, was struck near his abdomen and was rushed to University Hospital. Two other police officers crashed while they were racing to the scene.
“We know we were lured there by him firing shots at the neighbors’ residences,” said Mobile Police Chief William “Randy” Jackson on Tuesday. “That’s how we got there in the beginning. A bullet struck the building. But I believe this was strictly to get the police there.”
Jackson said the heavily armed couple planned an ambush on police with the intent of killing or wounding as many as possible.
But a mystery behind the Sunday morning gunfire looms: Why, exactly, did a couple with no known criminal record, and no history of mental illness or drug abuse, attempt to carry out a massacre on the Mobile Police Department.
“We still don’t know the why,” Jackson said. “We don’t know why this was planned or what triggered them to do this. But I can tell you, through the course of this investigation, so far, that we understand this was a planned and orchestrated event. Both parties were active participants in it.”
Senia, 40, and Perreault, 34, were arrested at 12 p.m. after surrendering to authorities. Asked why the duo surrendered, when the motive appeared to shoot police officers, Jackson said he believe it’s because their plans were foiled.
“Once the house was fortified, we were not sending (police) in to put them in danger,” Jackson said, estimating that roughly 40-50 police officers were on the scene at the house at 113 Tuscaloosa St.
“We were relentless in the pursuit to get them out of the house,” Jackson said. “They had only two options that included either harm themselves or surrender. They chose to surrender.”
Senia and Perreault have been charged with 12 counts of attempted murder, two counts of discharging a firearm into an occupied building, four counts of discharging a firearm into an unoccupied vehicle, and one count of discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle.
The two defendants were then each given a $3.1 million cash-only bond, which a Mobile County District judge upheld on Monday. They are both being held at Mobile Metro Jail.
Jackson said the bond is unusual, something he’s never seen before.
“There really hasn’t been any similar incidences like this,” Jackson said. “Hopefully, this doesn’t trigger another.”
The couple moved to Mobile several years ago from Michigan, Jackson said. He said an investigation is still ongoing into their background in Michigan before moving to Mobile. Property records show that Senia purchased the home for $265,000 in 2022. It’s appraised value is listed at $186,100.
Jackson said that neighbors said the couple were secluded inside their residence, and the chief said that an investigation revealed that the couple did not leave their house often.
“There were stacks and cases of water and Ramen Noodle cases,” Jackson said. “It told me they didn’t get out much.”
Jackson is urging the public to support Matthews as he recovers from a single gunshot wound. The shot, Jackson said, traveled through the lower side of Matthews’ abdomen and hit his intestines.
Matthews is recuperating at University Hospital where Jackson hopes the 26-year veteran of the Mobile Police Department could be released next week.
“We hope that sometime next week that he can go home and begin physical therapy,” Jackson said. “He’s in good spirits. It will be a challenging road.”
The Mobile Law Enforcement Foundation has established a fundraiser for Matthews with all proceeds being directly sent to the lieutenant.
The donation portal can be accessed at this link.
Jackson said the officers who were in the vehicle that crashed received non-life-threatening injuries. He asked the public to also “keep them in our prayers as well.”
Mobile Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis, during Tuesday’s city council meeting, said he met with Matthews on Sunday and that the two prayed together. He, too, encouraged the public to support the fundraiser for Matthews.
“He still needs our prayers as does his family,” Cheriogotis said.
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