Police in Louisiana's capital city have arrested two people for a mass shooting that left 12 others wounded at a nightclub in January.
Two 19-year-olds, Nikeal Franklin and Jy’Shaun Jackson, were arrested Friday, the Baton Rouge Police Department said. Franklin was charged with 12 counts of attempted first-degree murder while Jackson was charged with 12 counts of principal to attempted first-degree murder.
On Jan. 22, shots rang out around 1:30 a.m. in the Dior Bar & Lounge in Baton Rouge. A dozen people were injured, and most sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Three victims were initially listed in critical condition, but their conditions later improved.
Police said they believe the shooting was not a random act of violence and that it was “targeted.” Sgt. L’Jean McKneely Jr., a police spokesman, told The Associated Press in the days following the shooting that investigators believed the shooting was targeted at one partygoer and that bystanders were hurt in the process.
Before the shooting, the nightclub had advertised a Southern University and Louisiana State University-themed party as the two schools kicked off new semesters. Spokespeople for both LSU and Southern University told The Advocate that the event at the club that evening in Baton Rouge was not affiliated with either school.
In a social media post Friday, police said the investigation was ongoing and did not release any details beyond an announcement of the arrests.
Although the number of homicides in Baton Rouge decreased last year from 2021, Louisiana’s capital city has been plagued by gun violence. In October, an early-morning shooting near Southern University’s campus in Baton Rouge left nine people injured.
The Baton Rouge shooting occurred just hours after a gunman killed 11 people and wounded nine others at a Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park, California.
