Authorities in Louisiana said Friday they have charged a 17-year-old with murder in connection with a Thursday shooting at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge that killed one teenage girl and injured five other people, as police searched for another suspect.
Baton Rouge Police Chief TJ Morse said the shooting was not random and appeared linked to “social media beefs and maybe gang-related stuff,” adding that the investigation was ongoing. Morse said the incident involved two groups that met at the mall, exchanged words, then “pulled guns” and “innocent people were hit.”
Gov. Jeff Landry joined Morse at a news conference and said he had spoken with FBI Director Kash Patel. Landry, a Republican, vowed to crack down on gang violence in the capital city and said he would use state, local and federal resources to address the issue, adding that consequences “are going to start being felt immediately.”
Landry said he was asking all levels and sectors of law enforcement to “prepare for a targeted warrant sweep” for anyone connected to the mall shooting. He said the sweep would focus on the “neighborhoods that these individuals came out of” without naming specific parts of Baton Rouge.
Morse said shoppers and workers inside the mall fled and hid for cover as shots rang out at the food court. He said that two officers on duty at the mall ran toward the gunfire without hesitation and rendered aid, describing their quick action as helping save lives.
Authorities said Martha Odom, 17, a high school student from Lafayette, died in the shooting. Morse said Odom was visiting the mall with friends for her “senior skip day,” and The Advocate reported that two other high school students from Odom’s school, Ascension Episcopal School, were among those injured. In a social media post by the school, Odom was described as “a joyful presence whose kindness and infectious enthusiasm brought light to all who knew her.”
Police said five people were initially taken into custody following the shooting but later released. Morse said the 17-year-old charged Friday had been arrested after turning himself in, and the teen has been charged with first-degree murder, five counts of attempted first-degree murder and a count of illegal use of a weapon.
Morse also said authorities were searching for another suspect, and the investigation was continuing.
Under recently enacted Louisiana law, 17-year-olds are treated as adults in the state’s criminal justice system. The shooting was the second high-profile case of gun violence in Louisiana this week: police said a father fatally shot eight children, including seven of his own, in an attack on his family Sunday morning in a Shreveport neighborhood. Police said two women, including the gunman’s wife, were critically wounded in that attack.