NEW ORLEANS — Four people allegedly involved in a shooting during a high school graduation at Xavier University of Louisiana that killed an 80-year-old grandmother are in custody, according to arrest records.
According to the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office, 49-year-old Frank Bartholomew and 40-year-old Laverne Duplessis and a 15-year-old juvenile were booked into the Orleans Justice Center on Tuesday.
19-year-old Brandon Rock was booked on a count of manslaughter and firearm possession in a gun-free zone last Friday.
Duplessis was booked on several charges including manslaughter, having a gun on a school campus and obstruction of justice. Bartholomew was booked only on an obstruction of justice charge.
New Orleans police say a disagreement between two girls after the Morris Jeff High School graduation was escalated by family members and ended in gunfire. After the gunfire erupted, 80-year-old Augustine Greenwood, a mother of six children and grandmother to 15 was dead and two others were wounded. Greenwood was attending the ceremony for one of her grandchildren who was graduating.
Last week, police said arrest warrants were issued for four individuals: Duplessis, Bartholomew, Rock, and the juvenile. Rock and the 15-year-old were shot in the incident.
The two girls who had the initial disagreement were not wanted in connection with the shooting.
NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said six guns were seized at the scene.
“This incident could have been prevented. Children will be children. We as adults have dispute. It may even escalate to a physical fight, but when you escalate it to bringing a weapon into play. That’s a whole different element," Ferguson said.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans at 504-822-1111.
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