WAGGAMAN, La. — A triple shooting in Waggaman overnight left a boy dead and another juvenile and adult hurt. Neighbors describe a night of chaos, with the sound of at least 10 gunshots, a street crowded with first responders, and bullet holes in several houses.
The shooting was reported around 11 p.m. Friday. Christina Campbell, who lives several houses down and across the street, told WWL Louisiana she initially thought the loud noise had been firecrackers. “I was waiting to hear the sirens but I didn’t hear any sirens, so we went outside and there was nobody,” she said.
The silence did not last. Soon after the sound of gunshots, Campbell “started seeing fire trucks and all the cops” on Daffodil Lane. The block was packed, end to end, with flashing lights.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office says deputies got to a home on the street and found the three victims. The adult and one of the juveniles were taken to the hospital with “non-life-threatening” gunshot wounds. The other juvenile, the Jefferson Parish Coroner's Office later identified as Dylan LaFluer, 16, died at the scene.
JPSO has not said what may have led up to the shooting or the age of the victims. None of the neighbors knew whether the boy who was killed was a teenager or a younger child.
Authorities also have not said whether the shooting happened inside the house or outside, though there were several bullet holes on an exterior wall.
Four other bullets went through the window, and one through the mailbox, of the house next door. The owner showed WWL Louisiana a piece of furniture on the other side of the window which was littered with broken glass.
A bullet damaged the shutter and window of the house on the other side too. The owner, Cookie Leblanc, said she didn’t even realize it had happened until police asked to look at her window. “I said, ‘my window? For what?’”
Leblanc said the shooting was unusual for the street. “I’ve been in this house 25 years and everybody mostly stays to themselves,” she told WWL Louisiana. “It’s a pretty quiet neighborhood.”
Campbell agreed. She said it was difficult explaining the violence to her young daughter, who heard the gunshots and got scared. “She said mama, what is that, what is that, and I have to tell her ‘it’s the garbage can man,” said Campbell. “She thought somebody had a bad accident, I didn’t tell her someone got killed.”
► 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.
