SAVE $ 19 3
SAVE up ¢ to 81
LB
CUT & WRAPPED FREE! USDA PRIME BEEF
TRUCKLOAD SALE
Whole Shortloin (T-Bone)
10 97
USDA PRIME BEEF $
T-Bone Steak
visit rouses.com for more weekly ad specials!
LB
LB
— ONLY —
— ONLY —
9
$ 97 LB
SAVE up $ 47 to 4
SOLD IN A 10 LB BAG FROZEN
IT 2 Chicken LIM
Leg Quarters
48 ¢ LB
FIRST OF THE SEASON! BLAND FARMS
Vidalia Onions
When You Buy 3
— ONLY —
68 ¢ LB
— ONLY —
24 PACK HALF LITERS
Rouses Spring Water
9
3/$
Prices good at all Lafayette, New Iberia and Youngsville stores April 15th - April 22nd, 2026.
THE
ACADIANA
ADVOCATE
T H E A C A D I A N A A D V O C AT E.C O M
Future of Comeaux stands in limbo Flurry of decisions surrounding school as lawsuit is pending
|
M o n d ay, a p r i l 20, 2026
$2.00X
8 children killed in north Louisiana mass shooting Suspect killed by police after chase; most of the victims were his kids, Shreveport officials say
BY ASHLEY WHITE Staff writer
Comeaux High School has been at the forefront of the news lately. It started with a contentious and long Lafayette Parish School Board meeting in March when the board voted to take Comeaux offline at the end of the school year and to repurpose its campus for several districtwide programs, including the Career Center. Since then, there’s been a flurry of decisions regarding Comeaux’s fate. A lawsuit alleged the board didn’t follow its own policy or state open meeting laws when it made its vote. A judge ruled the School Board wasn’t allowed to move forward with any movement on closing Comeaux until an April 29 trial. But two days later, the School Board held a special meeting and rescinded its decision, scheduled a hearing that would allow it to close the school following board policy and then late Friday canceled that hearing. Like many other school districts across the U.S., the Lafayette Parish School System has seen a decline in enrollment, which ultimately impacts its budget. That decline is from a combination of declining birth rates, a national trend and an increase in school choice options in Lafayette, primarily a growing public charter school scene. The week after the School Board voted to close Comeaux, the Lafayette Charter Foundation, which oversees the Lafayette and Acadiana Renaissance Charter academies, voted to open another charter school in Broussard. The district is funded in part by a combination of federal and state grants, property and sales taxes, and per-pupil funding. Fewer students mean less per-pupil funding. The district also has a number of aging facilities that require major repairs. In the last five years, the school system has replaced three school buildings in their entirety — Prairie Elementary, Carencro Bob Lilly Elementary and Lafayette High.
ä See COMEAUX, page 4A
STAFF PHOTO By By JILL PICKETT
A house on 79th Street in Shreveport is among the four locations tied to a mass shooting Sunday.
1
BY BRIAN McCALLUM
Suspect killed
49
Staff writer
CADDO PARISH Cross Lake
220 20
Area of killings
BOSSIER PARISH Shreveport Red River
20
71
171 Staff map
49
1
Police said the Shreveport gunman who shot up two houses early Sunday killed seven of his own children and wounded their mother, as well as killing another child. Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon said Sunday evening that the suspect, Shamar Elkins, shot the mother first and then killed eight children at a home in the Cedar Grove neighborhood. The minor victims ranged in age from 1 to about 12 years old. The suspect died after a police pursuit, Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon said at a news conference.
Shreveport police responded to four connected crime scenes early Sunday — including one in Bossier City. Bordelon said detectives were confident the shooting was “entirely a domestic incident.” “We believe the offender in this case did execute some of his own children,” Bordelon said. Elkins was shot and killed by a Shreveport police officer after he allegedly carjacked a vehicle near the intersection of West 70th Street and Linwood Avenue and fled into Bossier City. Police said officers pursued Elkins where he stopped in a subdivision north of Interstate 220. Elkins got out of his vehicle with a weapon and was shot by
ä See SHOOTING, page 4A
Students in Louisiana could have to repay lost TOPS funds Bill would have them on the hook if they flunk out
ments,” bill author Rep. The Legislature is debatDennis Bamburg, R-Bossing having students who stop meeting the requireier City, said. “If those obments of the Taylor Opligations aren’t met with good cause, taxpayers portunity Program for Studeserve a mechanism to dents scholarship not only recover those dollars.” lose their funding, which BY HALEY MILLER Some legislators imis the current practice, Staff writer but pay what they have Bamburg mediately expressed resA major shift could be coming to received back to the state. ervations about the bill. “If a student accepts TOPS TOPS is widely recognized as a TOPS, the well-known scholarship that helps Louisiana high school- funds, there is a responsibility significant incentive for the state’s ers pay to attend in-state colleges. to meet the program’s require- high schoolers to pursue a college
WEATHER HIGH 75 LOW 52 PAGE 10C
education. “There’s nobody more conservative about how we spend our money than me,” Rep. Phillip Tarver, RLake Charles, said. “I probably get in trouble for other things on the other extreme. But I don’t know about a student — like you said, he earned that scholarship. I’m not sure how we can take it away just because he doesn’t properly apply himself, and he makes a mistake, and he needs to move on and go do
Classified .....................4B Deaths .........................4B Nation-World................2A Comics-Puzzles .....7C-9C Living............................5C Opinion ........................2B Commentary ................3B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
something else.” The legislation narrowly cleared the House Committee on Education 6-5 last Tuesday, with chair Rep. Laurie Schlegel, R-Metairie, casting the tie-breaking vote. Some members voted yes despite misgivings so the bill could reach the floor for a full debate. “I’ll give you one opportunity,” Schlegel said to Bamburg during
ä See TOPS, page 4A
101ST yEAR, NO. 294