UPDATE: Jennings police increase patrols after possible gang-related shootings

Jennings police are increasing patrols after a series of possibly gang-related shootings that have left one person dead and others injured in the last six weeks.

“The community is going to see an increase in the presence of police officers throughout the city until we make more arrests and get a handle on all the shootings,” Police Chief Danny Semmes said Friday.

In the past six weeks, Jennings police have responded to seven incidents of gun violence, resulting in one man being killed this week and others being injured. Police believe the shootings are all tied together in some way and are gang-related, Semmes said.

In the latest shooting, a 20-year-old Jennings man was shot twice in the shoulder and buttocks Thursday afternoon after a verbal altercation escalated in the middle of the street in the 800 block of South Main Street.

The victim was listed in stable condition Friday at a Lafayette hospital.

The shooting was the second in the city this week.

Semmes said police have a person of interest who they are looking for in connection with Thursday’s shooting, but has not released the information to the public.

On Wednesday, Deontrae Edwards, 24, of Jennings was killed by his cousin after Ketron Latralle Alexander, 20, broke into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment on McKinley Street and shot Edwards.

Edwards was still recovering after being shot in late May during after a crowd gathered at the Down Home Reunion at Marcus Cain Park on Peters Street.

Alexander is being held without bond on charges of second-degree murder, home invasion, domestic abuse with child endangerment and violation of a protective order. He was arrested Wednesday after he was found hiding in the closet of a residence on Winnie Street.

In June, a woman was struck by a stray bullet while sitting on her porch in the 700 block of South Main Street. Police say she was an innocent bystander and was shot during an exchange of gunfire between individuals gathered in the parking lot of a closed convenience store near her home. Several bullets also struck the victim’s house.

Just days earlier, a shooting victim drove his car in front of police and stopped. When officers approached the vehicle, the driver told them he had been shot.

Anyone with information about any of the shootings can call the anonymous tip line at 337-275-9002 or the Jennings Police Department at 337-821-5513.

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