The St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office is investigating a burglary that resulted in shots fired.
It happened in Port Barre on Bear Street.
According to deputies, two male suspects broke into a truck. The homeowner heard his dogs barking, checked the surveillance cameras to see the lights in his truck on and went outside.
The people who allegedly broke into Joby Thomassee’s truck had already moved onto his neighbor’s house when he got outside.
Thomassee said he called out to them to try to warn them off but never expected what would happen next.
“I started walking down the driveway, and right when I cleared that fence, that’s when I made contact with the two individuals. One took off running; the other fired two shots at me,” he said.
Thomassee spends his days as a fireman, working to save lives, but it was early Tuesday morning when he feared for his own.
“He did not hesitate to pull that gun and shoot,” he recalled.
One of those shots even went through his house.
“It entered from the outside wall and went through this cabinet,” he said, showing to the hole in the cabinet of his bathroom. “Everything happened so fast. I just remember after the second shot, I got behind the fence and just tried to cover myself. And, after I stopped hearing the shots, I took a look down the road, and that’s when he fired two more shots,” said the homeowner.
He said one suspect ran away behind his neighbor’s home towards the woods while the other suspect, who shot at him, ran down the road. Thomassee wasn’t able to get a good look at them, and the sheriff’s office says they haven’t been seen since.
“They broke into my truck and took my wallet that had, like, 20 dollars in it. You know, you wouldn’t think that they’re ready to shoot somebody over that,” he said.
Now, he just wants to warn others to be more alert and stay safe.
“I’m just afraid that somebody is going to be hurt or killed, whether it be a homeowner like me that’s just walking outside to see what’s going on or it be one of the individuals that’s participating in these thefts.”
Deputies are investigating, but so far, no arrests have been made.
