UPDATE: 10 P.M.: A shooting near the UL Lafayette campus Wednesday afternoon put many students on edge.
“I see a bunch of police officers just sprinting and running and driving down here, and I’m like, ‘Okay, that’s nice because it’s a usual occurrence.’ Then I get a text on my phone saying to stay away from this area, and it’s another shooting,” UL Lafayette student Robert Batarseh recalled.
“Was I nervous? Yeah! I don’t know if it was my friend or just some random person. If it was some random person, it’ll still be sad, but like, that’s my friend on the line. I don’t know. That’s why I’m trying to figure out what’s going on right now,” another student, Keith Jordan, recalled while officers were outside his dorm investigating.
“Somebody was bleeding and came inside the building,” Jordan also remembered.
He says he also remembers how quickly everything happened.
“We looked out the window and saw police cars outside and came downstairs. We were worried, concerned citizens. We come downstairs, and they told us to go around. So we’re confused, and we look and saw apparently somebody had shot on campus. Then somebody was bleeding inside the entrance there. We’re worried. We’re trying to find out what happened ourselves because our friend had stepped outside for a little minute. We trying to figure out if he’s good, making sure it wasn’t him that got shot or something like that.”
While many students packed bags and left the dorm, investigators combed the crime scene for evidence.
Lafayette Police Senior Corporal Matthew Benoît says they received the reports of the shooting just after 5 p.m.
“Several individuals were involved in a fight located right here in the 600 block of Tulane Avenue. During that fight, one of the individuals produced a firearm and fired one shot. What I also can confirm with you right now after speaking with UL, the victim is a current UL student. That victim is currently in critical condition at a local hospital,” Cpl. Benoit told News Ten.
He also says at least three people were involved in the fight, however authorities do not have any suspects at this time.
ORIGINAL: 5 P.M.: LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) Lafayette Police have confirmed that one person was transported to a local hospital following a shooting on the UL Lafayette campus.
Police said it happened just after 5 p.m. in the 400 block of Tulane Avenue near Huger Hall.
The victim, who has not been identified, is in stable but critical condition.
A preliminary investigation has revealed that several people were involved in a fight in a parking lot and during that fight one of the people pulled a gun and the shot the victim, police said.
A heavy police presence remains in the area; students are being advised to stay away from the crime scene.
We will continue to follow this story throughout the evening and provide you with updates as they become available.
Anyone with information regarding the incident should contact the Lafayette Police Department or Lafayette Crime Stoppers at 232-TIPS.
