UPDATE 3, December 26: Alexandria Police have confirmed a connection between the Christmas day homicides in their town.
After continued investigation, APD can confirm that there are definite links between the two homicides that took place on Christmas Day, a post on the department’s website states.
“Information given to detectives, combined with physical evidence, confirms that the shooter, Wendell Reed, knew the victim who was killed on 3rd Street, and was in phone contact with her minutes before the shooting. The nature and extent of their association is being looked into,” the post states.
These investigations are ongoing, and more physical evidence from both crime scenes will be processed and examined, police say. They say it could take weeks to nail down all the details in the case.
“We ask that the families of the victims and the public remain patient while this evidence is processed properly,” the release states.
The victim from 3rd and St. James Streets has been identified as Tamyra Lea Tison (nee Allen), 33. The second victim, from Madeline Street, has been identified as Iona Louise Gatlin-Reed, 59, of Alexandria.
UPDATE 2, 8:08 p.m.: Alexandria Police have identified the alleged shooter in an apparent murder-suicide that happened there today.
They have identified him as Wendell Reed, 58, of Alexandria. Police say he shot himself after shooting a woman on Madeline Street.
Courtesy Alexandria Police Department
At around 3:30 p.m., Alexandria Police were called to a home near the intersection of Third and St. James streets. They found a woman shot in her car at that location; she was pronounced dead at the scene. A few minutes later they were called to another shooting in on Madeline Street. They found a man and woman dead from gunshot wound there. Reed has been identified as the gunman, and the dead man, found on Madeline Street.
Detectives and Crime Scene Investigators responded to both scenes. Based on the short amount of time between the shootings, it was suspected that the two incidents were linked, however this is not confirmed, police say.
Detectives were later able to find strong indicators that the two incidents are related, however as of Tuesday evening this is still not confirmed. The investigation revealed that the incident on Madeline Street was domestic violence related, police say.
“It saddens me greatly that Christmas Day, a time when family should be celebrating together, is when a terrible crime like this occurs,” said Chief Jerrod King. “After seeing the scenes myself, I’m heartbroken for the families of the victims, and I can only hope for a day when domestic violence is a thing of the past.
“I want to thank District Attorney Phillip Terrell for responding to the crime scenes with me and sharing his insight. I also want to thank Chief Weatherford and Chief Basco of the Pineville Police Department, and Sheriff Hilton and the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office for responding and lending their officers to assist Alexandria while our officers were at these crime scenes.”
The identities of the two victims are not being released at this time. Further information will follow as it becomes available.
UPDATE 1, 5:57 p.m.: Alexandria police say the suspect in the Madeline Street shooting is dead at the scene. Police are still investigating if both the Madeline Street and 3rd Street shootings are connected.
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ALEXANDRIA–Police are on the scene of two homicides they say happened within an hour of each other.
Officers say they were called to a scene on 3rd Street near St. James, where they found one person dead of a gunshot wound. A few minute later… officers were called to a home on Madeline Street, where they found two people shot to death.
According to investigators, one of the deceased at the Madeline Street scene is believed to be the suspect in the two shootings. However, both shootings and the connection between the two remains under investigation.
APD is working two homicide scenes. We were called to 3rd and St. James, where one person was shot and killed. A few minutes later we were called to residence in 2300 block of Madeline St, where two people are shot and killed. We are investigating possible links…. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/OkED3Ej2b1
— Alexandria LA Police (@AlexLAPolice) December 25, 2018
(2/2) We believe the suspect is one of the two found deceased on Madeline Street. More info to follow. pic.twitter.com/HfXLmYIXTe
— Alexandria LA Police (@AlexLAPolice) December 25, 2018
