OPD Says City Was Safe
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
Was it firearms or fireworks?
Or maybe a combination of both.
Regardless, Opelousas Police Chief Graig LeBlanc said on Friday that he feels city residents remained safe during a 48-hour New Years celebratory period in which the department received complaints from individuals purporting that shots were being discharged in their neighborhoods.
“We received a lot of complaints about gunshots and fireworks. People claimed that they were hearing more gunshots (on Thursday night) than they did on New Years’ Eve,” LeBlanc said.
LeBlanc said he was personally part of a detachment that included about 20 officers on both nights that monitored the activity which he said resulted in no reported injuries.
Normally, said LeBlanc, OPD has about six officers on night patrols.
“I thought it turned out to be a normal New Years. Having no injuries or fires makes it successful,” said LeBlanc who indicated that he was personally stationed along Railroad Avenue.
Opelousas resident Steve Picou, who lives not far from South City Park, said he recorded 47 instances of gunfire that started at 9:15 pm on Wednesday night.
About three hours afterward and the subsequent 15 minutes that followed, Picou wrote in an email to St. Landry Now.com, that he detected 339 shots and by 12:41 am on Friday, there were 91 more.
On Thursday night, Picou said he heard 25 shots from a high caliber weapon and reported that event to OPD.
Picou said that on Wednesday night he spoke about the gunshots with an OPD officer whom he described as intelligent.
Another Opelousas resident living in a mid-city area, reported to St. Landry Now.com on Thursday night that he also heard semi-automatic gunfire. The report from the resident who did not want to be named, was texted to the website at about the same time as the one also texted on Thursday night to St. Landry Now.com by Picou.
Overall Picou says he identified 557 shots during New Years, which represents a 55 percent increase over the same period for New Years 2025.
“Things are going in the wrong direction. I commend OPD and the SLPSD,” said Picou, who complimented both agencies for issuing press releases and a Crimestoppers segment on the issue of New Years gunshots.
LeBlanc said he is aware of the number of Wednesday and Thursday night gunfire instances reported by Picou. LeBlanc added that he found the volume of potential shots recorded by Picou as “amazing.”
However LeBlanc added that it is often difficult for persons to accurately discern the locations of gunshots.
“A lot of people think (the gunfire) happens when a string of fireworks are going off. It’s difficult to determine where the noises are coming from. For instance, noises carry and sometimes when you think shots are coming from nearby, they may actually be coming from outside the city.
“We do our best to respond. A lot of times when there might be shots coming from south or west of the city, it might sound like they are coming from nearby,” said LeBlanc.
LeBlanc said crime surveillance cameras maintained by OPD are able to detect light flashes from gunshots or fireworks, but identifying exactly where either originates is difficult.
“We could get cameras that could better identify the noises or the light flashes, but those would cost up in the millions. The city does not have that type of money right now,” said LeBlanc.
