{"id":1500951,"date":"2026-04-25T17:03:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T22:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=1500951"},"modified":"2026-04-27T16:38:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T21:38:16","slug":"authorities-announce-murder-charge-after-louisiana-mall-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=1500951","title":{"rendered":"Authorities announce murder charge after Louisiana mall shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) \u2014 Louisiana authorities said Friday they had charged a 17-year-old with murder and were searching for another suspect after bystanders were caught in the crossfire of a shooting at a mall<\/a> in Baton Rouge that killed one teenage girl and injured five other people.<\/p>\n

Baton Rouge Police Chief TJ Morse said the shooting Thursday at the Mall of Louisiana was not a random act and seemed to be driven by \u201csocial media beefs and maybe gang-related stuff,” adding that the investigation was ongoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that this was two groups of people that met up at the mall, exchanged words and then pulled guns and innocent people were hit,\u201d Morse said.<\/p>\n

The chief spoke at a news conference alongside Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, who vowed to crack down on gang violence in the capital city and said he had spoken with FBI Director Kash Patel. The Republican governor promised to use state, local and federal resources to address the issue and that consequences “are going to start being felt immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landry said he was asking all levels and sectors of law enforcement to \u201cprepare for a targeted warrant sweep\u201d for anyone connected to the mall shooting. He said it would focus on the \u201cneighborhoods that these individuals came out of” without naming specific parts of the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not going to allow our streets, our schools and our public spaces to become your battleground,\u201d Landry said. \u201cThose who brought this violence into our public spaces and into the lives of our ordinary citizens, I want you to know you are now the criminal problem and we are focused on you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shoppers and workers inside mall fled and hid for cover as shots rang out at in the food court. Morse said that two officers on duty at the mall ran toward the gunfire without hesitation and rendered aid. Their quick action helped save lives, he said.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of police officers \u2014 some wearing tactical gear and carrying long riffles \u2014 descended on the mall.<\/p>\n

Authorities say Martha Odom, a 17-year-old high school student from Lafayette, died in the shooting. Odom was visiting the mall with friends for her \u201csenior skip day,\u201d The Advocate reported<\/a>. Two other high school students from Odom’s school, Ascension Episcopal School, were among the injured.<\/p>\n

In a social media post by the school, Odom was described as \u201ca joyful presence whose kindness and infectious enthusiasm brought light to all who knew her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five people were initially taken into custody following the shooting but later released. A 17-year-old was arrested Friday after turning himself in, Morse said. The teen has been charged with first-degree murder, five counts of attempted first-degree murder and a count of illegal use of a weapon.<\/p>\n

Under recently enacted Louisiana law,<\/a> 17-year-olds are treated as adults in the state’s criminal justice system.<\/p>\n

The deadly shooting is the second high-profile case of gun violence in Louisiana this week. A father fatally shot eight children<\/a>, including seven of his own, in an attack on his family Sunday morning that stretched across two houses in a Shreveport neighborhood, police said. Two women, including the gunman\u2019s wife who was the mother of their children, were critically wounded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) \u2014 Louisiana authorities said Friday they had charged a 17-year-old with murder and were searching for another suspect after bystanders were caught in the crossfire of a shooting at a mall in Baton Rouge that killed one teenage girl and injured five other people. Baton Rouge Police Chief TJ Morse said … Continue reading Authorities announce murder charge after Louisiana mall shooting<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2851],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1500951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-state-news-archive"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-12 02:49:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1500951"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1500952,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500951\/revisions\/1500952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1500951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1500951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1500951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}