1-16-23
STATE POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING AN OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTING IN LAFAYETTE EARLY THIS MORNING. OFFICERS, RESPONDING TO REPORTS OF SHOTS FIRED JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT AT JOHNSON AND GUILBEAU ROADS, FOLLOWED A SUSPECT VEHICLE, FLEEING AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED, TO MARILYN STREET, WHERE TWO PEOPLE IN THE VEHICLE JUMPED OUT AND RAN. A K-9 OFFICER TRACKED ONE OF THE SUSPECTS AND PULLED HIS WEAPON. THE SUSPECT WAS SHOT ONCE BUT HIS INJURIES ARE NOT CONSIDERED LIFE-THREATENING, ACCORDING TO STATE POLICE.
A RAYNE MAN WAS KILLED IN A CRASH IN LAFAYETTE PARISH AT AROUND ONE-THIRTY SUNDAY MORNING. FIFTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD STACY BOURQUE WAS DRIVING A HONDA PIONEER U-T-V SOUTH ON RICELAND ROAD NEAR RIDGE ROAD WHEN HE WAS HIT BY A BUICK LESABRE THAT WAS ALSO SOUTHBOUND. BOURQE WAS EJECTED FROM HIS VEHICLE AND WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE. THE DRIVER OF THE BUICK WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL WITH MINOR INJURIES. THE CRASH REMAINS UNDER INVESTIGATION.
LOUISIANA HAS EIGHTY-FIVE THOUSAND NEW RURAL RESIDENTS, ACCORDING TO THE U-S CENSUS. THAT’S BECAUSE OF NEW RULES INSTITUTED AFTER THE TWENTY-TWENTY-CENSUS THAT DESIGNATES URBAN AREAS AS THOSE WITH A POPULATION OF OVER FIVE THOUSAND, UP FROM TWENTY-FIVE HUNDRED. THE NEW RULE AFFECTS TWENTY-SEVEN RURAL AREAS IN LOUISIANA FORMERLY CLASSIFIED AS URBAN. BEING DESIGNATED AS URBAN OR RURAL CAN AFFECT THE ABILITIES OF SOME TOWNS AND SMALL CITIES TO ACCESS FEDERAL FUNDING FOR TRANSPORTATION, HEALTH CARE, HOUSING AND OTHER PROJECTS.
DERIDDER POLICE HAVE ARRESTED A MAN AFTER A FOUR-WEEK-OLD INFANT WAS HOSPITALIZED WITH SEVERE INJURIES. POLICE WERE NOTIFIED BY HOSPITAL PERSONNEL ABOUT THE INFANT, WHO APPEARED TO HAVE BEEN ABUSED. POLICE SPOKE WITH TWENTY-SEVEN-YEAR-OLD GIOVANNI BELTRAN OF DERIDDER AND LATER ARRESTED HIM ON A CHARGE OF SECOND-DEGREE CRUELTY TO A JUVENILE. BECAUSE OF THE SEVERITY OF THE INJURIES, THE INFANT WAS AIRLIFTED TO AN OUT-OF-TOWN HOSPITAL FOR FURTHER TREATMENT.
IN LAFAYETTE, MORE IS BEING LEARNED ABOUT THE CRIMINAL HISTORY OF A MAN ARRESTED FOR MURDER THIS PAST WEEK. SYLVIA MASTERS REPORTS.
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DETECTIVES WITH THE VERMILLION PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE HAVE IDENTIFIED AND ARRESTED A MAN SUSPECTED IN AN ARMED ROBBERY AT THE CIRCLE K STORE IN ABBEVILLE. AT AROUND TWELVE-FORTY SATURDAY MORNING, A SUSPECT ARMED WITH AN A-R STYLE WEAPON DEMANDED MONEY FROM A CLERK BEFORE FLEEING. WITH THE HELP OF THE CRIME FIGHTER’S CAMERA SYSTEM, DETECTIVES IDENTIFIED EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD TYRELL GORGON OF RAYNE AS THE SUSPECT, WHO ALSO IS ACCUSED OF A RECENT ARMED ROBBERY IN LAFAYETTE PARISH. GORGON WAS ARRESTED ON THEODORE ROAD IN ERATH WHERE MONEY AND THE CLOTHING AND THE WEAPON USED IN THE ROBBERY WERE LOCATED.
Republican State Sen. Sharon Hewitt has announced that she is running to become Louisiana’s governor. Hewitt is an engineer and a former oil and gas executive who was first elected to the legislature in 2015. She joins State Treasurer John Schroder, Attorney General Jeff Landry and attorney Hunter Lundy among the major candidates to have entered the contest to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards. Also, Republican Xan John of Lafayette, who ran for U-S Senator last year, announced his candidacy for governor Friday.
THE RAYNE WATER DEPARTMENT IS WARNING THEIR CUSTOMERS THAT THEY MIGHT SEE A SLIGHT DISCOLORATION IN THEIR TAP WATER BUT THEY SAY IT’S SAFE TO CONSUME. THERE’S A PROBLEM WITH THE PLANT’S ELECTRICAL SYSTEM CAUSING THE LIME-FEED EQUIPMENT TO MALFUNTION. THIS HAMPER’S THE ABILITY OF THE TREATMENT SYSTEM TO REMOVE IRON FROM THE RAW WATER SUPPLIED BY THE CITY’S WATER WELLS. A CITY CONTRACTOR IS WORKING TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM.
