KENNER, La. — Police have arrested one man in connection to a fatal drive-by shooting that happened after a bar fight early Saturday morning.
Edwin Gomez-Duarte, 18, of Harvey was arrested and booked on charges of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice on Saturday afternoon, officials said. He's accused of shooting and killing 22-year-old Arnold Matute-Vasquez of Terrytown following a fight between their two groups outside a bar on Airline Drive.
Police said the incident occurred around 12:30 a.m. Saturday in the 800 block of Daniel Street, near the Enigma Airport Bar and Lounge.
The Kenner Police Department said officers responded to reports of a large group fighting and gunfire. When officers arrived on scene, they found a man, later identified by family members as Matute-Vasquez, on the ground with a gunshot wound to his chest.
After paramedics tried to render aid, Matute-Vasquez was pronounced dead on the scene.
After detaining five people involved in the fight, police learned how the incident unfolded. One group apparently left from in front of the bar and walked to a car parked down the street. The second group followed and started a fight with the first group.
After gunfire, everyone dispersed and one group left in a red color Cobalt. Minutes after, the vehicle returned to the scene of the fight and the passenger, identified by several witnesses as Gomez-Duarte, fired a single gunshot that killed Matute-Vasquez.
Officers responding to the scene saw a vehicle going westbound on Airline Highway matching the description provided by a witness pulled them over. A gun was recovered on the road near the traffic stop and other evidence was found in the vehicle, police said.
According to police, Gomez-Duarte confessed to the homicide and throwing the handgun from the car when they were stopped by police.
He told police he had an ongoing dispute with people at the bar with Matute-Vasquez and was shot in the foot a month earlier by some of them.
Police found that the other occupants in the vehicle were unaware of the plan to shoot Matute Vasquez and were not charged.
Family members of Matute-Vasquez said he full of life and wanted to join the Army. They started a GoFundMe campaign, which can be seen here.
Neighbors who were in the trailer park next door from the shooting said they ducked for cover when they heard gunshots.
Police said the the investigation is still ongoing.