7-28-15
Family and friends have gathered to remember two women killed during a shooting at the Grand 16 movie theater in Lafayette last week. Mayci Marie Breaux and Jillian Johnson were killed Thursday when gunman John Russell Houser opened fire in a Lafayette movie theater. Houser died later after turning the gun on himself. The Daily Advertiser reports that about 500 people thronged a funeral service Monday for Breaux at the Church of the Assumption in Franklin.
Friends and family also gathered in Lafayette for Johnson’s funeral service.
THE GUNMAN IN THURSDAY’S THEATRE SHOOTING WAS NEVER PUT ON A LIST THAT WOULD HAVE PROHIBITED HIM FROM PURCHASING A GUN. IN 2008, A JUDGE IN GEORGIA ORDERED THAT JOHN RUSSELL HOUSER BE APPREHENDED FOR A PSYCHIATRIC EVALUATION, BUT SUBSEQUENT COURT RECORDS INDICATE HOUSER WAS NEVER INVOLUNTARILY COMMITTED, WHICH IS THE REQUIREMENT FOR SOMEONE TO BE PUT ON THE PROHIBITED LIST. HOUSER DID SPEND TIME IN MENTAL HOSPITALS IN BOTH GEORGIA AND ALABAMA. HOUSER PURCHASED THE GUN USED IN THE SHOOTING FROM A PAWN SHOP IN PHENIX CITY, ALABAMA.
SEVERAL BIRDS ALONG THE LAKEFRONT IN LAKE CHARLES WERE SHOT WITH DARTS, POSSIBLY ON FRIDAY NIGHT. KENNY BERTRAND TELLS KPLC TV THAT HE FOUND TWO DEAD MALLARDS AND A DEAD CANADIAN GOOSE, AS WELL AS ABOUT FIVE OTHER WATERFOWL THAT WERE INJURED. LIEUTENANT BEAU ROBERTSON OF LOUISIANA WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES SAYS CITY ORDINANCES PROHIBIT THE SHOOTING, HUNTING OR HARASSING OF WATERFOWL OR BIRDS. ANYONE WITH INFORMATION ON WHO SHOT THE BIRDS IS ASKED TO CALL THE LOUISIANA WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES “OPERATION: GAME THIEF” HOTLINE AT 1-800-442-25-11.
The latest campaign finance reports were due Monday. In the governor’s race, Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter reported raising $1.3 million, while donors gave GOP Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne $408,000. Republican Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle brought in $413,000 and loaned his campaign $375,000. Democratic state Rep. John Bel Edwards reported $246,000 in contributions.
LAFAYETTE POLICE ARE LOOKING FOR TWO PEOPLE WHO FIRED SHOTS INTO A HOUSE FULL OF PEOPLE, KILLING ONE AND CRITICALLY WOUNDING ANOTHER. JEFF HORCHEK HAS MORE.
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THE CARLYSS FIRE DEPARTMENT UNVEILED A NEW TRUCK YESTERDAY. FIRE CHIEF JAMES STANLEY SAYS THE NEW TRUCK HOLDS A THOUSAND GALLONS OF WATER AND HAS A SEATING CAPACITY FOR FOUR FIREFIGHTERS. HE SAYS IT’S PERFECT FOR WILDFIRES, LIKE THE ONE RECENTLY THAT BURNED SEVENTY ACRES OF GRASS SOUTH OF CARLYSS. THE NEW TRUCK WON’T BE FULLY OPERATIONAL FOR A FEW MONTHS AS THE DEPARTMENT WAITS FOR ALL THE EQUIPMENT TO BE SHIPPED.
ABBEVILLE POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING A SHOOTING THAT HAPPENED AT AROUND 5:40 YESTERDAY MORNING. LIEUTENANT DAVID HARDY SAYS THEY RECEIVED CALLS ABOUT GUNSHOTS BEING FIRED AT THE INTERSECTION OF KIBBE STREET AND MAUDE AVENUE. THERE WERE NO REPORTS OF INJURIES OR OF ANY HOUSES HIT BY BULLETS. POLICE ARE TRYING TO FIND WITNESSES AND SURVEILLANCE VIDEO OF THE AREA AT THE TIME OF THE SHOOTING.
A federal judge says BP will begin paying up to $1 billion in settlements to compensate local governments across the Gulf Coast for lost tax revenue and other economic damages they blame on the company’s 2010 oil spill. An order issued Monday by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier (BAHR’-bih-aye) says all of the payments to local governments must be made within 30 days. July 15 was the deadline for roughly 500 local governments in five states to decide whether to accept BP’s settlement offers as part of a broader $18.7 billion agreement with the five Gulf states and the federal government over damage from the spill.
Barbier’s order says BP says most local government entities have accepted the settlement.
