Shootings leave five dead in Louisiana
Slain couple’s son is the ‘prime suspect’ in their deaths and a separate attack.
NEW ORLEANS — Authorities in Louisiana say they are seeking a suspect in related shootings in two parishes that have left five people dead.
Ascension Parish Sheriff Bobby Webre said at a news conference that deputies were called to a trailer in the city of Gonzales for a “domestic incident” Saturday morning. Deputies found two people who had been shot but were still alive: Elizabeth and Keith Theriot, both 51.
Webre said deputies were able to interview one of the victims before they were taken to a hospital in Baton Rouge, where they died.
From that interview, authorities identified the couple’s 21-year-old son, Dakota, as “our prime suspect in this case.” He is being sought on first-degree murder and other charges.
Webre said Dakota had lived with his parents briefly but was asked to leave and not return.
He is considered armed and dangerous and was driving a stolen gray-and-silver 2004 Dodge Ram pickup, Webre said.
The sheriff said three other shooting deaths occurred Saturday in neighboring Livingston Parish, about 70 miles west of New Orleans.
Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard confirmed on Facebook that three deaths occurred there, identifying the victims as Billy Ernest, 43; Tanner Ernest, 17; and Summer Ernest, 20. Webre said they were not relatives of the suspect but appeared to know him.
Ascension sheriff ’s spokeswoman Allison Hudson says authorities believe all of the shootings are connected, and investigators from both jurisdictions are working together.