JEANERETTE, La. — Following a shooting that left one man dead, a leaked surveillance video of the incident has surfaced on social media.
The shootingoccurred on Church and Pellerin Streets on Feb. 26. The Iberia Parish Coroner's Office identified the man who died as Oshaun Smith, 22, of Jeanerette.
KATC met with Smith's family, who are demanding answers as they struggle with the public sharing of their loved one’s final moments.
“Oh, honestly, I can’t put into words how my family is feeling,” said Oshanae Smith, the older sister of Oshaun. "For this video to be leaked of my little brother’s death, it’s raised so many questions and concerns. It has left us even more devastated and hurt. My brother was very loving, very caring. He would go out of his way for anyone."
In an effort to understand how the video was released and what steps are being taken, KATC spoke with Jeanerette's newly appointed chief of police, Terrance Moore—who has also served as interim chief since December—about the security of the city’s crime cameras, the leaked footage and the actions being taken to address the leak.
“We are in control of the crime cameras. So, I spoke to our partners dealing with the crime cameras, and they assured me that the integrity of the cameras or the video has not been compromised. No one can actually access the cameras via other means. They are all secure,” Moore explained.
However, Moore also acknowledged that an internal investigation by an independent agency is underway to identify the source of the leak.
“So we can find out either the source, what means it was released, by whom and which agency, and we’ll go from there,” Moore said.
With concerns rising over the possibility of sensitive footage being released in the future, KATC asked Chief Moore how families could trust the agency moving forward.
"Well, that's the purpose. We have to stipulate policies in place,” Moore said. “From my understanding, what we had was a common way of taking information and just bringing it over with no type of secured means. So, what I done after I noticed the leak of the information, we changed up the way we going to do that now. Even with our law enforcement partners in this community—how they would share information—it's going to be more of a secured way to share that information, so we can avoid this happening in the future."
Moore further explained that the department is taking steps to limit who and which agencies can access the footage.
“Any of our other partners that were involved with the project dealing with the crime cameras has been discontinued. We have our technology guys who are now the sole operators of the cameras. Not even myself, there’s going to be one person in charge of those cameras, and if we need anything at this point moving forward,” he said.
For the Smith family, their nails are painted orange as a symbol against gun violence, advocating for Oshaun.
"Where is the professionalism within the city? Where’s the professionalism within the police department? But my family and I, my mom, we will not stop until justice is served,” said Oshanae Smith.
Chief Moore said the investigation into the leak is ongoing and urged anyone who has seen or shared the video to stop doing so out of respect for the Smith family.
