HARVEY, La. — The man accused of killing three people during a two-day shooting spree in Jefferson Parish appeared to pick his victims at random, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said Wednesday.
"This is a suspect who was going around shooting indiscriminately," Lopinto said. "What makes this one strange is because its random. Let's face it, this is not normal."
Sean Barrette, 22, faces two counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder and two counts of obstruction of justice for the Jefferson Parish Shootings.
Bond was denied for the first-degree murder counts.
He was connected during the investigation to one fatal shooting in New Orleans on June 6, as well as a June 5 incident where a gun was fired but nobody was struck.
Lopinto said he was working with the NOPD and expected another second-degree murder charge coming soon for that shooting.
Ballistics from all four scenes, including bullet casings on the ground and one pulled from a victim's exit wound, connected the incidents.
Lopinto said a murder weapon had been recovered from the suspect's home.
Barrette's parents, who were in the home when he was arrested, are cooperating with investigators, Lopinto said.
Barrette is not cooperating, he said.
Lopinto said Barrette has been committed twice in the past six months, once in December and again in April. According to Lopinto, Barrette shot himself in the hand during the December incident.
"He has a history of mental problems recently," Lopinto said.
The first killing that law enforcement officials have tied to Barrette took place on June 6. New Orleans police said the shooting happened just after 9 p.m. near the intersection of Marquis Street and Hayne Boulevard in Little Woods. Officers arriving at the scene found a man with multiple gunshot wounds.
The first shooting in Jefferson Parish happened June 17 near West Metairie and Henry Landry avenues around 11 p.m. Monday. Paramedics took a 26-year-old man to the hospital where he later died.
Around 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, two men were shot just blocks away on West Metairie Avenue while they sat in their car.
Hours later, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said a suspect in both shootings surrendered to a SWAT team after a standoff outside a home on Trefny Avenue.
Jefferson Parish investigators said they believe Barrette was working alone.
"I do not have any reason to believe anybody else was involved in this," Lopinto said. "We are not looking for anybody."
The sheriff said his office is still digging into the shootings to determine whether any were racially motivated. But JPSO investigators have not found any link between the killings.
"I'm not going to call it a serial killer. This is multiple acts of violence" Lopinto said. "This guy, I do not believe was going to stop."