Two people are dead following a quadruple shooting in St. James Parish. Authorities were dispatched on Christmas Eve to the Neighborhood Lounge on Main Street in Lutcher. One of the four that was hit died at the scene, while another died at a hospital. Sheriff Willy Martin described the scene as chaotic.
“Some more shots fired while we were on the scene, maybe a hundred plus yards away from where the officers were, which created a lot of panic. And so, officers run into the direction of the shots and find another victim on the road,” said Martin.
Martin said investigators are looking into several suspects, but in the chaos, the shooters got away.
“More officers started to arrive on the scenes. There were even more shots fired, maybe about a block away, so we were always chasing a moving target. We never really caught up with the shooters, and when it was all over, we had four victims,” said Martin.
Martin said with the shooting happening during the holiday, it has complicated the investigation.
“That makes it hard to find people, as well as everybody had family events planned, and all that was disrupted. But you know we have a job to do and we know it. We’re not going to give up. We’re not going to slow down on this. Hopefully, the community will step up and give us some leads,” said Martin.
Crimestoppers is offering $5000 for information that leads to the arrest.
The deceased are identified as 20-year-old Thaddeus Watis and 23-year-old Dedrick Paul Green, Jr., both of Convent, Louisiana. The two others transported to the hospital were 25-year-old Jerrell Moody and a 15-year-old male. No motive is known for the shooting at this time.
