BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
Opelousas police investigators are continuing to pursue leads, possible suspects and motives in connection with a recent double homicide and a Friday night shooting that police say left one victim hospitalized.
The flurry of gun violence activity began Thursday inside an Opelousas housing project when according to police, Samijah Leday 21 and Alexis Joubert 19, were killed as multiple shots were fired in the 1200 block of Ina Clare Drive at around 10 p.m. when the two women were apparently sitting inside a parked vehicle.
About 24 hours after the Ina Clare fatalities were reported, Opelousas Police Chief Martin McLendon said in a press release that an unidentified man was shot and suffered a wound to the stomach during an incident that occurred near the Union and Madison street intersection.
Police have not indicated in either of their informational releases whether the Ina Clare shootings on the one near Union and Madison streets are related.
In the press release McLendon said the man who was shot was apparently walking from his vehicle to his business when the unnamed victim was met by an unidentified gunman who shot once and then fled.
Police said in the press release that investigators are still gathering details in the single victim shooting incident.
A crowd of people congregated along Ina Clare Drive and attended a balloon release late Saturday that commemorated the deaths of Leday and Joubert.
A two-block area of Ina Clare Drive, which is located near an elementary school zone, has been a featured area of fatal violence during the past couple of months.
Earlier this year police investigated the shooting of Kendol Payne, who was fatally shot in the 1200 block of Ina Clare.
Then in September Montarro Dargin was also shot and died in the 1110 block of Ina Clare.
OPD has released just introductory information on the shooting of Leday and Joubert, but McLendon said police are actively investigating a number of people to determine their alleged involvement in addition to collecting more information about the incident.
On Saturday Mayor Julius Alsandor issued a statement which called the Ina Clare shootings, “senseless and unwarranted,” and pledged support from city officials to help investigators with arrests connected to the incident.
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