NEW ORLEANS — Using cutting-edge technology, timing, and a little luck, New Orleans police detectives quickly zeroed in and arrested a 20-year-old New Orleans man in the drive-by shooting that wounded a man and a woman in the CBD Wednesday afternoon which rattled people in the CBD on the cusp of rush hour.
Bryceson Jones was taken into custody after officers, already hot on the trail of a gang of suspected carjackers, used a GPS tracking device that had been placed earlier on the pickup truck to follow Jones’ path from the moment of the shooting to a home in eastern New Orleans where he was arrested at about 9 p.m., according to a police report.
Jones was booked with two counts of attempted murder, possessing a machine gun, two counts of aggravated assault, discharging a firearm during a violent crime and one count of aggravated arson for allegedly torching the getaway truck, a Chevy Silverado, court records show.
The two shooting victims were rushed to a local hospital with unspecified bullet wounds.
The preliminary police report reveals that a 17-year-old and a 16-year-old were taken into custody as officers stormed the house in search of Jones, who was captured in an attic after a tactical unit used tear gas to smoke him out.
The 16-year-old was captured while trying to jump over a fence of the house, the report states.
Officers recovered two assault rifles that they say matched shell casings found at the CBD shooting scene at Common and Carondelet streets at about 3:47 p.m.
In addition to the assault rifles, detectives armed with a search warrant recovered two Glock pistols, one with an extended magazine, an illegal machine gun, and “several articles of clothing hidden inside the attic where the subjects were hiding, which matched what they were observed wearing throughout the day.”
The police report also states that detectives had been tracking the Silverado and various suspects connected to a carjacking and six auto thefts along the Poydras corridor.
The carjacked vehicle, a Nissan Altima, was pinpointed at the scene of a prior homicide still under investigation, the report states.
Just before the shooting Wednesday, officers stated they tracked the Silverado “as it drove through the Poydras Street corridor and circled at least a dozen times.”
According to Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office website, Jones' bond has been set at over $1 million.
His first appearance in court is scheduled in March.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.