NEW IBERIA, L.a. — New Iberia police say there are still no arrests after a 15-year-old boy was shot multiple times in a Saturday shooting. Police confirm the teen boy, yet to be identified, died from his injuries Sunday.
The shooting happened in the 600 block of Park Avenue. Officers tell KATC that is where the teen lived.
Neighbors on Park Ave say that while saddened, they're not surprised as this happens all too often and far too close to home. While many did not want to speak on camera, one neighbor who has lived on the block for one year says the shootings are so frequent, she can't count them on her hands anymore.
"We heard the shooting but we are so accustomed to it, you know, it happens so much, you know," the 23-year-old neighbor, who wishes to remain anonymous, says. "We just pray to God that it never be nobody that we're close to, you know, there ain't no sense running from it no more. You could be in the house, you could be in the church."
The same neighbor shared that her younger brother was close friends with the teen victim.
"He was a very sweet, you know, outgoing little boy, very humble, you know," she said. "They young, I just feel like they're influenced by all the wrong things... a lot of people like to say it starts from home, but me, I don't figure," she continued. "They surrounded by things, they go to school surrounded by it, the environment, it's just — it's corrupted if you ask me."
Officers tell KATC it's not the first time this has happened in the area, or on the avenue.
"It's been going on, probably since last year," says Sgt. Daesha Hughes, public information officer for New Iberia Police Department. "A lot of these juveniles are getting their hands on guns and that's what we're finding a lot of our crime is coming from — juveniles."
At last check, KATC is still waiting on statistics from the department, but Hughes says juvenile gun violence is a trend that is not only being seen in Iberia Parish or Acadiana but other parts of the state and nationwide.
This investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact NIPD at 337-369-2306 or make an anonymous tip to Iberia Parish Crime Stoppers at 337-364-TIPS.
KATC will keep you updated as more information becomes available.
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