Police in Louisiana’s capital arrested two 19-year-olds in a January mass shooting that left 12 wounded at a nightclub not far from two university campuses at the start of the new semester.
The Baton Rogue Police Department announced Saturday that Nikeal Franklin and Jy-Shaun Jackson, both 19, were arrested for their alleged involvement in the Jan. 21 shooting at 4619 Bennington Avenue. Gunfire rang out around 1:30 a.m. in the Dior Bar & Lounge in Baton Rouge. A dozen people were wounded.
Among those hurt were three victims who were initially listed in critical condition, but their conditions later improved.
In the initial aftermath, police had said they believed the shooting was "targeted."
"This was not a random act of violence," Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul told reporters at the time. "Based on the preliminary investigative efforts, we believe this was a target event – that someone specifically was being targeted, and others were also injured in that process."
Baton Rouge police homicide detectives were assisted by St. James Parish Sheriff Department detectives and deputies in executing multiple search warrants in St. James Parish on Friday. The pair was taken into custody as a result, and both were booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.
Franklin was booked on 12 counts of attempted first-degree murder. Jackson was booked on 12 counts of principal to attempted first-degree murder. In a Facebook post Saturday, police said the investigation was ongoing and did not release any details beyond an announcement of the arrests.
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.
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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
