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Live Louisiana Crawfish
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$ 99 LB
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4
$ 97 LB
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Fresh Red, Orange or Gold Bell Peppers
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47 ¢
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Prices good at all Lafayette, New Iberia and Youngsville stores April 23rd - April 26th, 2026.
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F r i d ay, a p r i l 24, 2026
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1 dead, 5 wounded in BR shooting 3 Lafayette teens among the victims of incident at mall
BY ANDREA GALLO, AIDAN McCAHILL, PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER and JAN RISHER Staff writers
One person was killed and five others injured Thursday as gunfire rang out at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge when an argument between two groups of people in the food court escalated into violence, police said. Bystanders, including three As-
cension Episcopal School students from Lafayette who visited the mall on their “senior skip day,” were struck by bullets in the crossfire. They and others were rushed to hospitals with injuries. By later Thursday, law enforcement and hospital officials said one had died, another was in critical condition and the rest were stable. Law enforcement descended en masse to the mall after receiving the “shots fired” report at 1:22 p.m. Police initially warned at least one
shooter was at large, and by late afternoon, they announced they had taken five people into custody. By Thursday night, police said that while they had detained people involved, they had not officially made arrests yet. Authorities said they were still trying to piece together the argument that led to the shooting, but Baton Rouge Police Chief T.J. Morse said it “looks like guns were
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
Baton Rouge Police Chief TJ Morse speaks to reporters outside the Mall ä See SHOOTING, page 7A of Louisiana on Thursday after a shooting left one person dead.
FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DE LOUISIANE
SCENE SETTER
2026 LEGISLATURE
Smoking pot near any La. campus could become felony Some leaders say drug laws violated at football games
BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD BOWIE
Rusty Metoyer and the Zydeco Krush perform as Zydeco Night kicks off Festival International de Louisiane on Wednesday at the Scene Fais Do Do stage in downtown Lafayette.
As festival gets underway, Lafayette police ready for crowds BY KRISTIN ASKELSON and CLAIRE TAYLOR
Staff writers
INSIDE ä Festival vendors offer multiple ways
to pay. Page 1B
Lafayette police are out in force, as ä Warm temperatures, rain in the planned, as Festival International de forecast for the weekend. Page 1B Louisiane returns to downtown Lafayette for its 40th year this week. The city police department’s plan 200 rounds of ammunition. He was alfor keeping festivalgoers, musicians legedly on his way to New Orleans to and merchants safe is unchanged in Brittany Joseph, left, and Drake execute a mass shooting and planned the wake of the arrest Wednesday of to die at the hands of police. a North Carolina man who was plan- LeBlanc groove at Festival International Lafayette police Sgt. Robin Green, public information officer, said Thursning a mass shooting at a New Orleans de Louisiane on Wednesday. festival. day that when the department preLaw enforcement did not specify next. pared its safety plan for Festival Inwhich festival was the alleged target, Christopher Gillum, a former police ternational, it planned for hypothetical but the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage officer, was arrested at a Destin, Florä See FESTIVAL, page 5A Festival is underway this weekend and ida, hotel with a handgun and around
WEATHER HIGH 83 LOW 69 PAGE 14C
Louisiana could soon make it a felony to smoke marijuana within 2,000 feet of any school or college campus in Louisiana, as some state leaders say people are flagrantly violating drug laws at college football games and other school events. But opponents, including some Republicans, say it’s too harsh to put people in prison for using pot “What law when most of the country enforcement is scaling back enforceis seeing ment against the drug. “House Bill 568 is about on school one simple principle: campuses and Drug-free school zones during large should actually be drugpublic events free,” said Rep. Gabe Firlike college ment, R-Pollock, while presenting his bill before football games Louisiana House mem- is open, visible bers Wednesday. marijuana “What law enforcement use in front is seeing on school camof families puses and during large public events like college and children football games is open, with little visible marijuana use in meaningful front of families and children with little meaning- consequence.” ful consequence,” he said. REP. GABE FIRMENT, Firment said he is sponR-Pollock soring the bill “in collaboration” with the office of Gov. Jeff Landry. But Democrats and some Republicans were leery of the harsher penalties. “Have you ever been to an LSU football game?” Rep. Barbara Freiberg, R-Baton Rouge, asked Firment during debate on the bill. “I think that’s the impetus for the bill,”
Business ......................6A Commentary ................3B Nation-World ................2A Classified ..................10C Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................2B Comics-Puzzles .....7C-9C Living............................5C Sports ..........................1C
ä See SMOKING, page 7A
101ST yEAR, NO. 298