REMEMBERING A LEGEND
DR. NORMAN C. FRANCIS SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE
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S u n d ay, M a r c h 1, 2026
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STRIKE ON IRAN Ayatollah killed in joint U.S., Israeli attack Iran retaliates as President Trump calls for regime change BY JON GAMBRELL, MELANIE LIDMAN, JOSH BOAK and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
This image provided by Airbus shows the strike on the Iranian supreme leader’s compound on Saturday in Iran. President Donald Trump says the attack launched by Israel and the United States killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump made the announcement Saturday and said the assassination gave Iranians their ‘greatest chance’ to ‘take back’ their country.
La. members of Congress weigh in on attack on Iran Republicans rally around President Trump BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
WASHINGTON — Louisiana Republicans in Congress were quick to rally around President Donald Trump after he ordered an attack on Iran Saturday morning. Democratic members of the state’s delegation were more cautious, calling on the Trump administration for further clarification on the president’s plan and
legal authority. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, RBenton, said he had been briefed on the situation and has been kept up-to-date by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “President Trump and the Administration have made every effort to pursue peaceful and diplomatic solutions in response to the Iranian regime’s sustained nuclear ambitions and development, terrorism, and the murder of Americans — and even their own people,” Johnson said in a statement. “For decades, Iran has defiantly maintained its
ä See CONGRESS, page 4A
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
In this photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a meeting in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 17.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A major attack launched by Israel and the United States killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Donald Trump said Saturday, announcing an assassination that he said gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country but that also put the future of the Islamic Republic in doubt and raised the risk of regional instability. “Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Trump wrote in a social media post. He warned of “heavy and pinpoint bombing” that he said would continue throughout the week Trump and even beyond, part of a lethal assault the ä War U.S. has justified as powers necessary to disable the country’s nuclear debate grows after capabilities. Iran did not imme- attack on diately confirm the Iran. PAGE 3A death. The attack opened a ä Travelers stunning new chapter stranded in U.S. intervention in by flight Iran and carried the disruptions potential for retaliatory violence in the after Iran Middle East and else- strikes. where. It also repre- PAGE 4A sented a startling flex of military might for ä World an American president leaders who swept into office react on an “America First” platform and vowed to cautiously keep out of “forever to U.S., Israeli wars.” If confirmed, the strikes. killing of Khamenei in PAGE 7A the second Trump administration assault on Iran in eight months appeared certain to create a leadership vacuum given the absence of a known successor and because the 86-year-old supreme leader had final say on all major policies during his decades in power. He led Iran’s clerical establishment and its
ä See STRIKE, page 6A
Lafayette homicides drop in 2025 after record-setting 2023 spike BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer
The city of Lafayette recorded 10 homicides in 2025, or a 44% drop from the previous year. That decrease was also seen in the parish as a whole, which had zero homicides last year, according to data provided by the Lafayette Police Department and the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office. The change stands in stark contrast to 2023, when the city counted its deadliest year on record at 29 homicides. The following year, the city expe-
WEATHER HIGH 81 LOW 54 PAGE 6B
rienced a 38% decrease in murders, according to the FBI’s 2024 National Incident-Based Reporting System data. The first homicide victim in 2025 was a 15-year-old Lafayette High School student. Tameron Willis, was fatally shot Feb. 1 on Arthur Street. Last year’s cases also included a murder-suicide that resulted in the death of a 16th Judicial District assistant attorney and the shooting death of a 6-year-old attending a vigil against another gun violence victim killed by a former Lafayette police officer.
The downward trend follows a national one, with 2025 seeing the national homicide rate at its lowest level in more than a century. Nationally, homicides were down 21% compared to the previous year, according to the Council on Criminal Justice, which tracked homicides across 40 large American cities. In New Orleans, violent crime saw a 3% decline, with 121 homiceds recorded, compared to 125 the year prior. Since 2022, New Orleans has seen a 55% decrease in its homicide rate. East Baton Rouge Parish reported 94 homicides in 2025, breaking a run
From 2021 to 2024 Lafayette’s murder rate decreased by 28% to 14.8 murders per 100,000, or 1.81 times greater than the 2024 national ä See HOMICIDES, page 6A average.
of homicide totals that had remained stubbornly high even as much of the rest of the country saw post-pandemic reductions in killings. The 2025 reduction in reported homicides moved the parish closer to matching national trends. In Shreveport, the number of criminal homicides dropped 19% year over year, from 52 in 2024 to 42 in 2025, the lowest number since before the COVID pandemic struck. “It’s been a national trend,” said Lafayette Police Chief Paul Trouard
Business ......................1E Deaths .........................3B Nation-World................2A Classified ..................10A Living............................1D Opinion ........................4B Commentary ................5B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
101ST yEAR, NO. 244