A Sunday morning rampage in Baton Rouge leaves one dead and several others including the suspect hospitalized from a domestic incident that escalated quickly. Brooke Thorington has more.
Cut 1 (30) “ …I’m Brooke Thorington.”
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Republican House Speaker Clay Schexnayder removes two Democrats from their chairmanships, seemingly as retaliation for their votes in the recent veto override session. Matt Doyle has more…
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A man killed his grandmother and attempted to kill his mother in East Baton Rouge Parish Sunday morning then went on a shooting spree trying to steal a getaway car. Sheriff Sid Gautreaux says the suspect is 28-year-old Aaron Morgan.
Gautreaux says after the incident at his relatives Morgan drove to Highland Marketplace in what they believe was an attempt to get rid of his grandmother’s vehicle and hijack another getaway car. Three more people were shot as a result.
Gautreaux says Morgan was able to steal a vehicle that was left running in the parking lot and police later spotted the stolen vehicle on Siegen Lane. Then a pursuit on foot ensued.
Police say the stabbing victim is the suspect’s grandmother, 78-year-old Dianne Gafford.
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Democratic State House chairs Chad Brown and Vincent Pierre were removed from their posts, seemingly as retaliation by the Republican Speaker for votes in the recent veto override session.
LaPolitics.com publisher Jeremy Alford says this move was blowback for the two Democrats’ votes against legislation banning transgender athletes from girls’ sports.
Independent Daryl Adams was also removed from the House Appropriations Committee and Democratic Representative Travis Johnson of Vidalia was removed from Transportation.
Alford says the most interesting question now is whether Speaker Clay Schexnayder will replace the two Democrats with conservative Republicans.
Schexnayder won the Speakership over the more conservative Representative Sherman Mack after creating a coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans.
Immediately after the failure to override any of the Governor’s vetoes, there were suggestions the Speaker could be removed, but Alford says that now appears unlikely.
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A tragic boating incident over the weekend claims three lives in Sabine Parish. Lt Dean Aucoin, Director of Boating Education for LDWF says they were notified Saturday morning that three men went out boating on Toledo Bend Friday evening and never returned.
The bodies of Paul Murphy Jr and Joseph Sam Jr both of Opelousas, James Young of Lafayette were recovered over the weekend and the boat has yet to be recovered.
The three men reportedly launched their boat around 10:30 Friday night and Aucoin says it’s not uncommon for boaters to go fishing in the Toledo Bend at that hour.
Aucoin says the investigation is ongoing as to exactly what happened to the three men and while he always recommends wearing a life jacket on the water, he says it’s more critical at night because you can’t always see what your boat may encounter in the dark.
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Governor Edwards reinstates the statewide indoor mask mandate effective Wednesday for everyone five and older.
Edwards says our case growth is now, by far, the fastest in the nation and we’re on track to blow past our highest ever number of COVID patients in the hospital. He says 4th surge is the worst one yet…
The state now has over 11,000 COVID-related deaths since the start of the pandemic and is now just shy of 2,000 hospitalizations. Over 11,000 cases were reported since Friday.
Edwards says it’s clear his previous statewide mask advisory is not being followed so something firmer was needed to slow down the current surge that is overwhelming hospitals.
Edwards says there is a dangerous amount of COVID spreading through the state right now and the vast majority of it is the more deadly and infectious Delta variant.
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