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St. Francisville Police chief vows zero tolerance after highway shootout, four in custody
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ST. FRANCISVILLE — Four men have been arrested after a shooting near the intersection of U.S. 61 and La. 10 left one person hospitalized in West Feliciana Parish.
According to the West Feliciana Sheriff's Office, the situation started around 1 a.m. when two groups got into a fight inside a Chevron gas station on La. Highway 61. It spilled into the parking lot and continued for six miles up the road.
Shots were exchanged between two vehicles on U.S. 61 near La. 10 westbound just south of St. Francisville. Deputies identified five people involved in the shooting.
By Wednesday morning, three men had been arrested: Dwayne Joseph Jr., 20, Jveonte Hollins, 21, and Trevyon Smith, 19. All three are from out of town.
That afternoon, 25-year-old Prede T. Albert Jr., from New Roads, turned himself in. The WBRZ Investigative Unit was there as his family gathered outside the jail.
Albert had been wounded in the shooting. All four were charged with three counts of attempted second-degree murder, assault by drive-by shooting and illegal use of a weapon.
Hollins, Joseph and Albert were booked into the West Feliciana Parish jail, while Smith is being held in Baton Rouge on unrelated charges. Deputies say one additional suspect will also be arrested.
St. Francisville residents said the violence felt out of place in their community.
"What caused you get that angry that you're going to take somebody's life?" St. Francisville resident Olton Scott said.
Resident Steve Terry told the WBRZ Investigative Unit he moved to West Feliciana to get away from crime elsewhere.
"The crime rate in New Orleans had gotten horrendous," Terry said. "From the time I moved there to the time I left, it was really, really bad. And I noticed that up here, we didn't really have a whole lot. Besides like drugs, we didn't have a whole lot that I was aware of out here, but now it just seems like over the last few years, it's eroding everywhere and it's slowly but surely expanding into areas like this."
St. Francisville Police Chief Christopher Green said he has zero tolerance for this type of crime.
"If you come to St. Francisville and you commit violent crime, we will hunt you down, we will prosecute you to the fullest of our ability," Green said. "We will reach out to any resource available to us. It doesn't matter if it's here locally, the sheriff's office, state partners, federal partners, we're going to do whatever we have to do to bring you to justice."
Green also addressed the carelessness of a shootout like this.
"It's very concerning. Anytime we have anyone come over here and commit crime, violent crime especially, shooting is especially concerning," Green said. "I think the sheriff's office did a great job by handling this case very swiftly."
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