Two people are dead after a quadruple shooting in St. James Parish on Christmas Eve.
According to the St. James Parish Sheriff's Office, the shooting happened around 11:30 p.m. Monday near the 2100 block of Main Street in Lutcher. Officers arriving at the scene found four people with gunshot wounds.
Deputies say 20-year-old Thaddeus Watis died at the scene. A second victim, 23-year-old Dedrick Paul Green Jr. was taken to the hospital where he later died.
Two other people were taken to the hospital and are currently in "guarded" condition. Those two individuals have been identified as a 25-year-old Jerrell Moody and an unnamed 15-year-old boy.
The scene unfolded at crowded party following the annual Festival of the Bonfires, outside a local bar known as the Neighborhood Lounge.
Sheriff Willy Martin, Jr. said deputies responded to a chaotic scene after the first shots went off.
"They immediately heard more gunshots while they were here so you can imagine maybe several hundred people out here running in every direction trying to gather what was going down," Martin said.
Sheriff Office officials said countless bullet casings, a rifle and a handgun were found after the shooting.
David Williams lives nearby the bar and he said it's typically a quite neighborhood.
"Someone's mother is going to crying in the morning. Like I say, it's just a shame, it's just so crazy. It's pitiful," Williams said.
Sheriff's officials said an official motive is not clear, but it's suspected the shooting could have something to do with a local rivalry.
"We are hearing some conversations about some rift between some of the young men from Lutcher and some of the young me from Convent," Martin said.
With so many people at the scene of the crime, Martin said he hopes that witnesses will come forward with information.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Crimestoppers at 1-877-903-STOP. Crimestoppers will pay $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest in this case.
Stay with Eyewitness News on WWL-TV and WWLTV.com for more on this developing story.