Eunice chief: Shootings were likely retaliation

Police Chief Randy Fontenot said he believes the two shootings there Monday night were retaliatory in nature.
The first shooting occurred around 7 p.m. No one was injured.
The second was reported about two hours later and left two people injured, one critically.
“We’ve come to realize or suspect that the two shootings were related. It appears that the suspects and the victims were the same people in both shootings,” Fontenot said.
In fact, Fontenot said he believes the same people are responsible for most of the shootings in the city.
“Our victims and suspects in one shooting reverse roles in the next. It’s retaliation shooting.
“The lines between our victims and suspects are blurring and getting erased. It’s getting to where the victims are the only true innocent victims out there, who are in the line of fire,” he added.
Fontenot said not only are the same people often involved in these shootings, but they’re happening in the same areas — areas he says are “constants for gun battles.”
“It’s our common denominators, our constants in all of our shootings. It’s the same people. Look, it’s happening at the same locations where these people live, and last night was a repeat of previous shootings, the same location,” he said. “They shoot at this place, and an hour and a half, two hours later, they’re back at this one.
“This is deja vu for us. It’s happened already.”
Fontenot says the only way to stop the shootings is for witnesses and people who have information to talk to police.
“The shooting’s not going to stop until we lock them up or until they kill each other, which is coming,” he said. “There’s going to be some more killings if we can’t get them locked up.”
Fontenot is also calling upon the public to protect themselves.
“The more people protect themselves, the more the criminals see that people are going to stand up and start protecting themselves and their community and their neighborhoods,” he said. “It’s going to keep these people out — it’s just like having police officers at the scene.”
Fontenot said his department, like others, is experiencing a staffing shortage.
“The police officers are here to help the community, we work for you, we’re here to try to help protect you, but when we’re short-staffed it’s hard to do,” he said. “And if we’re not getting the cooperation we need from the public, it makes our job almost impossible. We need your cooperation, we need your help.”
Eunice police say they do have persons of interest in both shootings. They are working towards making arrests.