Two teenagers have been detained by police in the capital city of Louisiana in connection with the January nightclub shooting that left 12 other people injured.
Nikeal Franklin and Jy’Shaun Jackson, both 19 years old, were detained on Friday, according to the Baton Rouge Police Department. Jackson was accused of 12 charges of principle to attempted first-degree murder, while Franklin was accused of 12 counts of attempted first-degree murder.
Around 1:30 a.m. on January 22, bullets were fired in Baton Rouge’s Dior Bar & Lounge. Twelve persons were hurt, the majority with non-life-threatening wounds. Three victims’ statuses eventually improved after being initially described as being in critical condition.
Police stated that they think the shooting was “targeted” and not just a random act of violence. In the days after the shooting, Sgt. L’Jean McKneely Jr., a police spokesperson, told The Associated Press that detectives thought the gunshot was directed at one partygoer and that others were injured as a result.
The nightclub had previously promoted a celebration with a Southern University and Louisiana State University theme to celebrate the start of the two universities’ new semesters.
The Advocate was informed by representatives of LSU and Southern University that neither institution was involved with the event that took place that evening at the Baton Rouge club.
Police stated in a social media post on Friday that the investigation was still underway and that they had only announced the arrests.
Even though Baton Rouge’s homicide rate dropped from 2021 to 2018, the city has long been plagued by gun violence. Nine individuals were hurt in an early-morning shooting in Baton Rouge in October that happened close to the campus of Southern University.
The shooting in Baton Rouge happened just hours after a shooter in Monterey Park, California, killed 11 people and injured nine more during a Lunar New Year party.
»Two Teenagers arrested for Louisiana mass shooting that injured 12 people«